Aftershock
by SnapshotsOfAFool
Summary: Who knew that one little plant could be the start of so much chaos. When Emma goes poking around in Regina's vault and becomes sick, her actions open up a slew of events that lead to their son getting kidnapped, the revelation of unexpected feelings for each other and a blossoming relationship, if they can get over the trauma caused by the events that unfold. read and review :)
1. Chapter 1

**Setting:** This is set after they save Henry from Neverland but before season 3 b. It assumes that Gold died at the end of season three B as did Neil in Neverland, and that Regina and Emma were able to stop Pan's curse before it sent them back to the Enchanted Forrest.

This is the same story as Dream Vine, but I felt the need to change the name and the summary because it was originally designed as a one shot that I then decided to expand due to the amount of positive feed back I got on Ao3. Get's extremely angsty later on but is also very fluffy! I hope you all enjoy, please tell me what you think I love to hear people's comments and opinions. Happy reading everyone :)

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"No touching," she said as Regina turned around. "Got it." Regina raised a single sculpted eyebrow.

"I'm serious Miss Swan," she said. "Even something as apparently innocent as a flower or a feather can hold dangerous properties, even to the touch." Emma nodded.

"I know Regina," she said, trying to sound annoyed at the brunette's patronisation. Regina rolled her eyes, indicating that Emma had succeeded in this, and turned back to rummage through the draw she had been buried in.

"So," Emma said, walking up behind her, "what are we cooking up today?" She peered over Regina's shoulder to look into the open draw and frowned down at the assorted jars, boxes and bottles, each filled with a variety of random objects, fluids and, much to Emma's distaste, animal parts.

"This is not Home Ec. Sheriff," Regina sighed, turning around with her hands now full of little rounded jars. "You are progressing at an unexpectedly impressive rate," Regina said, the shadow of a smirk playing at the corner of her full dark lips. Emma bowed grinning.

"Thank you master," she said, her voice overflowing with a deep mock seriousness. Regina rolled her eyes yet again at the blonde, concealing her amusement, and continued as though Emma had not interrupted her.

"Today I'm going to show you how to make one of the most useful spells I know. One that you yourself have used many times." Emma looked at her, all mockery swept aside, and her smile replaced with a burning curiosity. "I'm going to show you how to make a locator spell."

Emma followed Henry's scarf as it slithered through the air in front of her, leading her out of town towards the forest. Regina had enlisted their son's help, so that they could test the quality of Emma's spell making skills. Although it hadn't been the most difficult spell she had ever created, and it had not been a particularly long day at the sheriff's office, Emma felt somewhat drained as she trudged through the trees after the scarf, stumbling every now and then over a root or fallen branch. She rounded the corner of one final tree and found her son sat on a log at its base, Gameboy in hand. He looked up and grinned at her.

"It worked!" he yelled. Jumping up he ran to give his mother a congratulatory hug. Emma let out a little "oof" as he collided with her, but he seemed not to notice. "You did it," he grinned. "Mom said you were getting really good at this stuff."

"Did she now?" Emma smiled wearily. The thought of gaining Regina's hard earned praise, even if it wasn't to he face, made her feel a little warmer inside, despite the fact that she seemed to be feeling the cold autumn air a little more than usual this evening.

"Come on kid," she said, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Let's get you back to her then. Or she'll think I failed and I'll never hear the end of it."

By the time Emma's bug pulled into the driveway of 108 Mifflin Street Emma was feeling completely exhausted, not to mention the fact that she was shivering ever so slightly, despite having the heating on full blast.

"You okay Ma?" Henry asked, looking at her as she pulled the key out of the ignition with trembling fingers.

"Yeah," she said, forcing a smile. "Just tired is all." Henry nodded but the crease in his brow stayed stubbornly in place.

"Let's get inside and maybe Mom will make you a coffee," he suggested. Emma grinned. Although Granny's coffee was perfectly fine, Regina's expensive whole bean home ground stuff was always amazing. And now that she thought about it, Emma realised that Regina always seemed to make it exactly how she liked it.

They trudged inside and despite the warmth of the house Emma kept her brown leather jacket on, along with her gloves.

"It worked then?" Regina grinned, giving he son a quick hug.

"Yep," Emma smiled tiredly. The grin slid promptly from Regina's face as she looked up at the blonde sheriff and her somewhat pale shivering form.

"Emma are you feeling okay?" she asked, a hint of concern colouring her voice.

"Yeah," Emma nodded. "I just need a coffee is all."

"I think she is coming down with something," Henry said quietly to his dark haired mother, who frowned at him as she ushered them both into the kitchen.

"I never get sick kid," Emma grinned non-too convincingly. "I'll be fine don't worry," she added for good measure as Regina turned her concerned gaze on her. She merely hummed disbelievingly at the blonde's words, and set about making the coffee. Emma sat heavily on one of the bar stools and put her cold fingers between her legs as she waited patiently for the coffee. She felt cold, and more exhausted than she thought she ever had done in her life. Perhaps the kid was right, perhaps she was coming down with something after all. The thought in and of it self half worried her. She had meant it when she said she never got sick. She swayed slightly on her stool, the room spinning a little and she grabbed at the breakfast bar to steady herself.

"Ma?" Henry's little voice quivered slightly, saturated with concern. Regina spun around at the slight commotion and rushed to Emma's side as she saw the young woman sway dangerously again. She put an arm around the blonde's shoulders to steady her and placed her free hand to her brow. Her frown deepened.

"Emma you're burning up," she mumbled. "You have a fever."

"I'm just tired," Emma muttered, leaning into Regina's warm body as she did so. Her eyelids felt heavy, and the room seemed to be tilted at an odd angle.

"Emma, how do you feel other than tired?" Regina asked, shaking her shoulder a little in an attempt to keep her focused. "I need you to tell me exactly how you are feeling."

"Tired," Emma mumbled. "And cold, and dizzy." Regina scowled to herself and cursed under her breath.

"Mom what is it?" Henry asked, his eyes wide with fear for his younger mother.

"Emma, this is very important," Regina said, shaking the woman's shoulder again, as Emma had nestled her head, eyes closed, into the crook of the other woman's shoulder. Regina cupped her cheek in her hand and turned her face up, forcing Emma to open her eyes and look at her. "Emma, I need you to tell me, did you touch anything that you weren't supposed to when we were in my vault this afternoon?" Emma refused to answer, merely attempting to rest her head back against Regina's shoulder.

"You'll be cross with me," she said, an almost child like fear wavering her voice. Regina smiled softly to herself and gently turned Emma's face upwards so that they were looking at each other again.

"I promise I won't be cross," Regina said gently. "Tell me Emma, please. What did you touch dear?"

"Was just a purple flower," Emma grumbled. Regina sighed. Dream vine.

"It is bad?" Henry asked, his voice scarcely more than a whisper. Regina smiled reassuringly at him.

"She'll be okay sweetheart, I promise," Regina said. "Emma only touched it. She'll be ill for a day or so, and I'll warn you now Henry, this fever is going to giver her nightmares. But she'll be okay." Henry nodded, the fearful expression still masking his face. "She has us to look after her. How could she not be?" He smiled a little at that, and the fear in his eyes was replaced with hard set determination.

"How can I help?" he asked.

"Go call your grandparents and explain what happened. Emma will have to stay here tonight where we can look after her. Then get a bowl of cold water and bring it up to the guest room." He nodded and once he had disappeared Regina transported the now unconscious Emma up to the guest room in a puff of purple smoke.

Once she had settled Emma on the bed, she changed her into one of her favourite tank tops and a pair of Regina's own silk pyjama shorts with a flick of her hand. She pulled the comforter up around the sleeping blonde and then sat herself in a chair next to the bed. There was no hope in keeping her awake, the sedative in the plant's sap was too strong. The only hope they had of possibly controlling the nightmares that would come was to try and keep the fever down. And of course, wake her up and be there for her when they inevitably did come. Regina silently thanked every god she could think of that Emma hadn't ingested it. If ingested, the little flower's sedative was so strong that it induced a nightmare-fuelled coma that could only be reversed with a very precise antidote, the ingredients for which were hard to come by. Regina didn't even know if some of them existed in this realm.

Henry walked into the room with a bowl of water and a washcloth and tried to force a smile. He had her habit of masking his emotions, and although he wasn't as good at putting on a brave face as her, he had certainly picked up her talents of shutting people out when he was hurting.

"Thank you sweetheart," she said quietly. She soaked the washcloth and wrung it out before placing it on Emma burning brow.

"If the flower Ma touched causes nightmares, shouldn't we be keeping her awake?" Henry asked, concern creeping into his voice despite his best efforts. Regina sighed.

"Unfortunately Henry the sedative in the flower your Mom picked up is too strong. She'd fall asleep despite our best efforts. But if we can keep the fever down, hopefully we can keep any nightmares at bay." Henry only nodded, and frowned as Emma scowled in her sleep and mumbled something incoherent. Regina soaked the cloth again before reapplying it, Henry watching in silence all the while. At the touch of the cold cloth Emma relaxed a little, her forehead smoothing over, her fists, which had been clenched around the sheets, relaxing. Regina looked up and gave Henry what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She extended her free hand to him and he took it, allowing her to draw him closer and pull him into a one armed hug.

"See," she said quietly. "She's okay." She removed the damp cloth and placed her dry hand on the blonde's brow. "Her temperature is even down a little." Henry forced a weak smile, and it was at that point at which his stomach decided to growl loudly. Regina smirked.

"What do you say we leave your Mom to rest and go have some dinner?" Henry nodded.

"Okay," he said quietly.

They ate in virtual silence. Regina wanted to reassure her son that Emma would be just fine, but in reality she knew that it would get worse before it got better, and that the nightmares would be hard for Henry to watch. The only thing she could try and do was shield him from having to see her go through that. By the time they had finished it was past nine o'clock, and Henry had school the next morning. They washed the dishes and tidied up, neither talking to the other, as they both knew that neither of them would share how they were feeling, and all they could do to comfort each other was put on a brave face and tell each other that Emma would be okay with them looking after her. Once they were finished, Regina turned to Henry and tried to force a smile.

"Time to get ready for bed Henry," she said, trying her hardest to pretend as though everything was normal. "You have school tomorrow and you know your grandmother will blame me if you start falling asleep in class." He merely nodded, and Regina couldn't help but frown at how little resistance he was putting up. Usually bedtime was at least a minor battle.

As Regina tucked him in Henry looked up at her, his eyes filled with worry for his other mother.

"You care about Emma, right Mom?" he asked. Regina's breath hitched, caught off guard by her son's question.

"Yes Henry of course I do. Very much," she said. He had no idea how much.

"You promise you'll look after her tonight? If she has really bad dreams?" Regina smiled softly at her son and gave his hand a little squeeze.

"I promise. Goodnight my little Prince. I love you."

"Love you too Mom."

Regina had hardly closed Henry's door when she heard a whimpering coming from her guest bedroom. As she approached it grew louder, Emma crying out against some unseen terror. Regina hurried into the room, shutting the door behind her and waving a quick sound barrier over it so that Henry wouldn't have to listen to his mother's terrorised cries. Emma was curled up in a tight ball in the bed, tangled in the sheets and clutching the pillow next to her, her knuckles white. Regina sat one the edge of the bed as Emma whimpered wordlessly. She froze when she saw the tear tracks that scarred her face. She had never seen the blonde this vulnerable before. She hadn't even really thought it possible for her to look so lost, so broken.

"Emma," she said, gently shaking her shoulder. "Wake up Emma." But the woman only continued to whimper and cry in her sleep. Regina shook her shoulder a little harder and smoothed back her damp hair from her face. "Emma wake up," she said again as she tucked blonde hair behind her ear. With another gentle shake of the shoulder Emma's eyes fluttered open and she stared groggily around the room.

"Where am I?" she mumbled, her voice still a little cracked and teary. "What's happening?"

"It's okay Emma, you were just having a nightmare. You're in my guest room. You're okay."

"I am?" Regina smiled softly and rubbed a hand up and down her shoulder soothingly.

"You are dear. It's just the affects of the plant you touched earlier remember?" Emma nodded, still frowning. Regina put a hand to Emma's brow and frowned.

"You're burning up again," Regina muttered, almost to herself. "That would explain the nightmare and why it was so hard to wake you." She reached for the bowl of water and dipped her fingers in, scowling at the warmth that had seeped into the water over the past hour or so.

"I'll be right back," she said to Emma who looked up at her through round fearful green eyes. "I'm just replacing the water," she explained. But as she went to stand Emma grabbed her hand, stopping her. Tear sparkled dangerously behind her eyes.

"Please don't," she whispered. Regina couldn't figure out if it was the request itself, or the fear in the Saviour's voice that made her stop. But she sat back down none the less, and simply conjured a few ice cubes to float atop the water.

"Okay," she said softly. "I won't go anywhere if you don't want me to." Emma nodded and kept hold of her hand, sending butterflies to Regina's stomach. They fluttered nervously as the two of them sat in silence.

"May I ask you something?" Regina asked quietly. Emma looked up at her and nodded. Regina reached for the washcloth, soaked it, and then placed it across Emma's brow before asking, "What was it that you were dreaming about?" Her voice wavered slightly as she asked the question, unsure if she really wanted to know what could make the Saviour cry.

"The foster system," Emma mumbled. "Being an orphan. Being lost and unwanted. My parents leaving me, abandoning me to start a new life with a new baby and leaving me behind." The last words were hardly more than a whisper, and the tears that were sparkling in her eyes threatened to break loose.

"It was just a dream Emma," Regina said. "It was just the night vine playing on your fears." Emma looked down.

"I know," she whispered.

"Don't let it make you forget that you have so many people around you that love you and who care about you deeply. Your parents, Henry," _and me_ , she added silently.

"I know," she said again. Regina continued to re-soak and apply the cold wash cloth, and as Emma's temperature dropped again her eyelids began to feel heavy.

"I don't want to go back to sleep," Emma whispered, forcing her eyes open to look up at Regina. The older woman smiled sympathetically at her. "I'm frightened."

"I know," Regina said. "But I'll be here if you need me. My room is only across the hall." Emma squeezed her hand tighter at the thought of Regina leaving her side.

"Will you stay?" she whispered. Regina could feel the butterflies in her stomach getting flustered again, her desire to run away from what she was feeling arguing with her desire to stay and take care of Emma. She nodded.

"If you want." Emma shuffled over slightly to allow Regina to slide under the comforter and sit next to her in the bed. She put aside the wash cloth and smoothed back Emma's hair rom her flushed face, earning an approving sigh from the blonde as Emma's heavy eyelids fluttered shut.

"I'll be right here. You're safe Emma." She smiled as the blonde's hold on her hand loosened ever so slightly, and she was once again pulled into unconsciousness.

Regina was woken by a sharp poke to her side. She opened her eyes and rubbed them, momentarily confused by her unfamiliar surroundings. The guest room, of course. She had fallen asleep sitting in the bed next to Emma. The blonde squeezed her hand tightly and Regina looked down to find her face crumpled and terrified as she clung to the sheets and to Regina.

"Please," she cried quietly. "Not them. Please don't hurt them." Regina smoothed back damp blonde from Emma's brow. The fever was worse than it had been all night, and what ever it and the nightmare were making Emma see, it was clearly terrifying her. Emma clung harder to Regina as the brunette tried to wake her.

"No!" Emma cried, tears seeping from under her closed lids. "Regina!" she screamed, sitting bolt upright as she woke.

"Emma, it's okay it was just another nightmare," Regina said, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. The contact made her jump and she turned, simply gaping at Regina. Her green eyes were wide and tears ran freely down her cheeks.

"It was just a dream Emma," Regina said quietly as Emma continued to stare at her.

"Regina?" Emma's voice broke and she flung her arms around the older woman. "You're okay," she sobbed into her shoulder. Regina froze, caught off guard by the action. The butterflies in her stomach flapped excitedly as she realised that one of the people in her dream that Emma had been begging for, or trying to protect, must have been her. She wrapped her arms slowly around Emma as she cried, rubbing large soothing circles on her back.

"I'm okay Emma," she whispered. "It was just a dream. I'm okay."

Once Emma's sobbing had subsided a little, Regina lowered them down to the pillows and Emma nestled into her, resting her head above her heart. She listened to it beat in the silence, allowing the steady sound to reassure her that Regina was safe, that she was okay. Slowly her breathing returned to normal, and her grip on Regina's shirt relaxed as the tension in her body slowly dissipated.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into the dark.

"For what?" Regina asked, absentmindedly trailing her fingers through the blonde's hair, gently teasing free the tangles.

"I'm not usually so clingy, even when ill," she muttered. Her cheeks grew hot, and she knew it had nothing to do with her fever.

"Before tonight I wouldn't have thought you even knew what the word meant," Regina chuckled. Emma frowned.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble," she grumbled. "You're probably exhausted."

"It's not your fault Emma," Regina said. "The dream vine takes your worst fears and forces you to live them through the most vivid and realistic of nightmares. If it were me, I would want someone I trusted by my side also."

"Still," Emma whispered. Regina gently clasped the sheriff's chin between her forefinger and thumb and turned her face up, forcing green and brown to meet.

"It's okay Emma," she smiled softly. The blonde nodded slightly, conceding defeat. Regina placed her palm on Emma's brow.

"Your fever seems to have broken," she mused. "You should be able to get some proper sleep now." Regina made as thought to move and Emma's hand closed around her shirt automatically. Regina paused, and then settled further under the covers, allowing Emma to snuggle closer.

"Just in case," she said softly, allowing Emma to keep her there without forcing her to ask. The butterflies in her stomach flapped approvingly.

When Henry's alarm went off the next morning the house seemed oddly quiet. He got up and got changed for school, but when he arrived downstairs for breakfast, neither his mother nor his breakfast was waiting for him as usual. She couldn't still be in with Emma could she? He crept upstairs towards the guest room, and when he poked his head around the door a broad grin stretched across his face. He closed the door behind him, leaving his mother's sleeping soundly in each other's arms, and decided he would make his own way to the bus today.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Regina woke with a start as the front door slammed shut. There was a faint grumble of protest from somewhere near her right shoulder and Regina looked down to find a still sleeping Emma nestled into the crook of her neck. The blonde had snuggled in closer to her at the sudden movement of her waking, but Regina was please to see that she had not woken her. She allowed herself to relax for a moment, enjoying the feel of the soft hot breeze on her neck caused by Emma's deep rhythmic breathing, the weight of her arm slung across her waist, the smell of the younger woman's floral shampoo. The butterflies in her stomach flapped in sleepy approval as Regina allowed her eyes to sink slowly shut again for a moment, basking in the comfort provided by the other woman. When she opened them again she found she was facing the clock and she let out a quiet groan. It was seven thirty a.m., meaning the slamming of the door was Henry leaving for school. The happily dozy flapping of her little butterflies stopped abruptly as her stomach dropped like a free falling elevator, sending a wave of nausea shuddering through her. Henry hadn't woken her. Had he seen them asleep together? What would he think? Would he read into this situation far more than was deserved? She had no idea if the previous night had even changed anything between them. Or if Emma would clearly remember any of it for that matter. She hadn't been very lucid after all. But she had no idea if Henry had even seen. There may be no reason to worry at all.

Regina very carefully eased herself out from under a still sleeping Saviour and sat up on the edge of the bed, running her hand over her face and through her hair. She looked up at the door and another wave of nausea lapped at her stomach . The door to the guest room was ajar. Henry must have come looking for her when she hadn't been up to make him breakfast. But he hadn't woken her. Well, she knew that if he did think anything of what he had seen, he would bing it up at some point. He always did.

Regina left the still sleeping blonde and went into her own room to shower and change. She was still wearing the same outfit she had worn the previous day, minus the shoes of course, and felt crumpled and dirty. And exhausted. Emma had woken her up at least three more times during the night with more nightmares. Thankfully however, none were as bad as the second one, the one Emma had had concerning her. She hadn't even really woken up properly, and each time Regina had been easily able to soother her back into a more restful sleep. So although she was now exhausted, and the idea of the full day of meetings she had scheduled made her want to crawl back under the comforter and disappear for the day, she was glad she had been there.

After Regina had showered and changed into one of her favourite red dresses, she felt a little better. Being fully coifed and manicured, with her perfect make up, magically blow dried hair and expensive cloths, always made her feel more human, despite how exhausted or ill she was otherwise feeling. Looking strong on the outside seemed to fuel her need to prove that she was as she appeared, and thus it was only when she was perfectly presented that she ever felt ready to tackle the day ahead. But first, especially today, she needed coffee.

As Regina waited for the kettle to boil she stared blankly ahead into her empty space of her kitchen, ruminating on the previous night's events. When she had watched as Emma teetered on the edge of consciousness, ready to fall off her stool, she had been shocked at the sudden jolt of panic she had felt strike her. It was similar to how she had felt upon watching the blonde dive off of the ship in Neverland. And just as it had then, the level of concern she felt had surprised her. It was sheer, unadulterated panic. The kind she had only ever felt for Henry before. She had seen for a while that she and Emma had been growing closer, especially after what had happened in Neverland, but she hadn't realised how close. Not until last night, until Emma had grabbed her so fiercely it had wrinkled her shirt, until she had almost fallen from her seat unconscious, until she had held her crying in her arms.

The kettle whistled loudly, rudely yanking Regina from her own thoughts back into the kitchen. She made her coffee and as she sat at the breakfast bar read the morning paper, she noticed a note sitting on top of it, the word 'Mom' scrawled in Henry's messy 11 year old handwriting. She opened it and frowned as she read,

"Mom,

Didn't want to wake you or Emma you both looked tired so I walked myself to the bus. Hope Emma is okay, See you later,

Love Henry"

So he had seen them. She wandered what he thought. If he even thought anything of it at all.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made Regina look up and her butterflies flapped themselves into a frenzy as she saw Emma standing in front of her.

"Hey."

"Hey," Regina said, slowly sipping her coffee. "How are you feeling?" she asked, trying her hardest to ignore her nervous butterflies and act as normal as possible.

"Cold," Emma said. "Tired, kinda like I have the flu."

"It's just the residual effect of the dream vine wearing off," Regina reassured. "You should feel better by tomorrow." Emma nodded.

"I should have listened to you," Emma grinned sheepishly. "You can bet I won't go messing around with random stuff in your vault again." Regina couldn't keep from rolling her eyes.

"That would involve you actually listening to me and doing as I say Miss Swan," she drawled. "You are more trouble than you are worth Sheriff," she smirked. Emma frowned a little.

"Trouble yeah, but not more than I'm worth I hope?" she said. Regina smiled at the blonde over her coffee, not entirely sure how to respond. "But in all seriousness," Emma said, taking the stool next to Regina, "I'm sorry for all the inconvenience this has caused you. I don't really remember much of last night very well, but I do remember that you took care of me." Her voice had grown small and she looked down at her hands as she spoke. "So thanks," she muttered to her hands. Regina's butterflies ceased their flapping and the brunette felt the smile on her face falter slightly. She didn't remember.

"It's not a problem Miss Swan," she said forcing the polite smile back to her painted lips. "I promised Henry I would look after you. I was just fulfilling my promise." Emma looked up, green eyes catching brown for a moment. Was Regina imagining it, or was there a hint of disappointment shadowing the blonde's expression?

"Fulfilling your promise? I get it." She slid off of her stool and turned as if to exit the kitchen. "I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible don't worry." Regina reached forwards and took Emma's hand, stopping her in her tracks, forcing the woman to look back at her.

"I didn't mean it like that," she said, her tone a little softer. "It's no trouble. Really." Emma gave a small tired smile.

"Thanks. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be overly sensitive. I'm just tired." Regina let go of the woman's hand and placed her palm lightly on her brow, checking her temperature.

"You still have a slight fever. If you like, you can sleep it off here for the day. But I understand if you would rather go home to your own bed." Emma's eyes widened a little at the unexpected offer. Before last night the longest Emma had ever spent in Regina's house were the very occasional dinners she had had with Regina and Henry. And even then she had not stayed longer than the meal.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Because I don't want to cause you any more trouble than I already have." Regina smiled sympathetically.

"It's fine really. I have back to back meetings all day any way so you wont be bothering anyone."

"Thanks. I really am not up to being babied by my mother at the moment."

Regina smirked and nodded. Henry had told her how Snow tended to smother Emma, and she wasn't the least bit surprised that it only made Emma push away most of the time.

"I understand." Emma nodded and looked down at her hands. She lingered, clearly working her self up to saying something else. "I'll be back around five," Regina said, answering her unasked question. "Your fever is low enough that it shouldn't cause you any more nightmares, but if you need me you can call my cell." This seemed to settle Emma a little and she gave Regina a small smile.

"Thanks," she said. "See you later then." Regina returned the smile and watched her disappear up the stairs before leaving the house.

Throughout the day Regina found it increasingly hard to concentrate. Fatigue however was not the only cause of this. Although of course it was significantly contributing, and made what little interest she had in each meeting harder to hold on to, it was the dream vine that kept pulling at her attention. When she had enacted the curse she had made a carefully constructed and methodically thought out list of everything in her vault that she would bring with her. Each and every item on that list was something that she knew well and had used before, or that she thought would come in handy in this new and unknown world. Dream vine was not a plant she had ever really familiarised herself with, let alone something she would have prioritised in bringing with her. Come to think of it, she was not certain that she had ever possessed any back in the Enchanted Forest let alone brought it to Storybrook with her. And if she hadn't brought it with her, she was sure she could not have acquired it here. Perhaps it had been with her mother's things. She had heard tell of how her mother had slipped some into the water supply of a small castle on the edges of Briar-Rose's lands so that she could walk into the place unarmed and unopposed to steel an ancient pendant, owned by the duke of the castle. When Briar-Rose and Stephan had discovered the inhabitants of the castle all in deep comas, and had finally managed to wake them, all of the afflicted had needed months of continuous therapy to recover from what they had seen in their dreams. In the end the duke had been confined to his chambers in a straight jacket. He was still locked in the psychiatric ward of Storybrook's hospital, one of the only genuinely insane patients in there.

As the dwarves all traipsed out of her office at four o'clock Regina sighed and rubbed her temples, the beginnings of a headache nibbling at her brow. Her last meeting that day was with Snow in half an hour, in which she wanted to discuss the school curriculum with her and the headmistress. No doubt she wanted to introduce compulsory singing lessons for every pupil and an AP class "Bird Language". Regina smirked and rolled her eyes at the very thought. The worst thing was that she wouldn't put it past their former princess. She stared at her phone for a moment, wandering whether or not it would be a greater hassle to phone Mary-Margaret and rearrange the meeting, or to sit through it. Just as she was about to go back to her work it buzzed, and Emma Swan's name lit up the screen. Regina frowned. She hadn't really expected Emma to actually contact her. She opened the message and read, the butterflies in her stomach flapping nervously all the while.

 _'Just to check, what time did you say you would be home again?'_ The crease across her brow deepened. Emma had heard her loud and clear. The phone buzzed again.

 _'Also, Henry asks if we can have pizza for dinner.'_ Regina hesitated as a tiny hopeful voice whispered tentatively in her head. _Maybe she just wants to talk?_ Regina quickly dismissed the notion as foolish, settling instead on the explanation that the residual fever and flue like symptoms must simply be confusing her.

' _No to pizza, he knows full well we had it last weekend,'_ she typed. ' _And I should be home around five."_ She hit send, her thumb still hovering above the keys hesitantly.

' _Great. :)_ _'_ Regina hesitated before replying. Was that it, or should she continue this little conversation. She didn't usually text people. In fact, she had never really had any friends to text, so she was not entirely sure what she should do. And the fact that it was Emma Swan, who was at present this undefined figure in her life, made it even more confusing.

' _How are you feeling?'_ she asked, hitting send before she could talk herself out of it. Again, Emma's response was immediate.

' _A little better. Still not great but I suspect I'll be good by tomorrow. :)_ _'_ Another smiley face. Was she this familiar with everyone she texted?

' _Good to hear. I'll see you later.'_ Regina shoved her phone in her bag before she could read Emma's response and grabbed her coat.

"Reschedule the appointment with Miss Blanchard," she said to her assistant on her way out. "If she complains I'll deal with her later," she called over her shoulder at the bemused girl.

She saw the little plant as soon as she entered her vault. It sat on top of an old chest of books, dark green stem coiling around itself, the dark purple flower seeming to sparkle in places, like stars poking holes in the night sky. She never left ingredients out. Especially not ones as dangerous as this. She pulled on a pair of black leather gloves and picked up the little flower to examine it. A deep frown creased her otherwise smooth brow. This was definitely not hers.

When Regina arrived home a little after five she found both Henry and Emma waiting for her in the kitchen. Emma was huddled in one of Regina's fitted hoodies that she used to run in in the winter, a hot mug of tea steaming gently from between her white hands. Regina raised a single slender eyebrow quizzically.

"Been shopping in my wardrobe have we Miss Swan?" she asked. Pink crept into Emma's cheeks and she looked down sheepishly at her mug, taking a sip. Regina smirked.

"I was cold and Henry said you wouldn't mind. I steered clear of anything that looked expensive.

"It's fine," Regina grinned, enjoying the slight look of embarrassment on Emma's face. She walked over to the blonde to feel her brow, gaging her temperature. "Your fever's cleared up," she mused. Emma's cheeks grew a darker shade of red at Regina's touch. "How do you feel otherwise?"

"Like I have had the superman of all flues." Emma grumbled.

"Wouldn't the flue technically be a villain instead of a superhero?" Henry asked, looking up from his comic. Both women smirked.

"Like who?" Regina chuckled. The eleven year old shrugged.

"I dunno. Like the green goblin?" Emma laughed.

"Okay," she grinned. "Like I've had the green goblin of all flues."

"You should eat something," Regina said. "It will help you get your strength back."

"I'll eat when I get home," Emma smiled.

"I didn't mean a bear claw Miss Swan. I meant real food," Regina smirked.

"Why doesn't Emma stay for dinner?" Henry suggested.

"I don't want to continue intruding," Emma said hastily.

"Don't be silly," Henry smiled. "Mom doesn't mind. Do you Mom?" Regina swallowed hard and mentally silenced the butterflies that had stirred inside her.

"Of course not," she smiled. "I always make too much lasagne anyway."

After dinner Henry managed to convince Emma to stay and watch a movie with him and Regina. It was the third time that month that they had watched "X-Men: the Origins of Wolverine". With the fire crackling warmly in the grate, and a soft blanket strewn across her, Emma quickly became very dozy. Her eye lids had gown heavy and pulled shut, her head coming to rest on Regina's shoulder were she now lay asleep. As soon as the blonde head had slid into it's current resting position Regina's butterflies had begun their frenzied flapping. Regina had tried her hardest to ignore it, but as Emma's soft breath tickled her neck in gentle puffs, she couldn't refuse the little smile that was tugging so persistently at the corners of her mouth. She had half wandered if she should move her, or wake her, seeing as Henry was in the room and she didn't want him jumping to unwanted conclusions. But as he hadn't seemed to have noticed, she didn't bother.

When the movie finished Regina switched off the TV and Henry looked around at her from his chair. He raised an eyebrow at her, taking in the sight of his mothers, who had once taken delight in hurling threats and insults at each other, snuggled together under a blanket on the couch. Regina smirked inwardly at the look on his face. It was entirely her own. She loved it when she recognised little parts of herself in her son. It reassured her that he was hers, as well as Emma's, even if biology didn't agree.

"She's still exhausted from the dream vine," Regina whispered. "I suppose I'll poof her up to the guest room." Henry nodded. He got up silently and perched himself down on his mother's other side looking at her thoughtfully. A little frown creased Regina's brow and her pulse quickened slightly.

"What it is sweetheart?" she asked quietly. His frown matched hers for a moment as he searched for the best way to phrase his thoughts.

"You really meant it when you said that you cared about Emma, didn't you?" Regina nodded slowly.

"Of course," she whispered.

"You care a lot, don't you?" he asked. All Regina could do was nod. She didn't know what to tell him. She didn't want to lie, but at the same time, she couldn't make sense of her own feelings let alone articulate them in a way that an eleven year old would understand.

"I do," she said at last. "But Henry, it's very complicated. I don't really know, or rather, I don't fully understand what I feel at the moment." He smiled at his mother and took her hand in his own.

"It's okay," he whispered. "And I know not to expect anything. I just want you to be happy, and lately, like this morning and this evening and a bunch of other times, Ma seems to make you happy." Regina smiled softly at him.

"You make me happy," she said, pulling him into a hug and hissing his head.

"I know. But you are allowed to make room for one more."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When Regina woke the house was quiet. Usually she liked to sleep in on a Saturday, and was only woken by Henry and his plea for pancakes for breakfast. She looked over at the clock on her beside table and frowned. It was only seven. She had no idea what had woken her so early. The birds were silent. Henry was most likely still asleep. Her phone showed no missed calls or messages. All was quiet.

After twenty minutes of tossing and turning and hitting the pillows into what she hoped would be a more comfortable position, still sleep eluded her. She threw back the covers with an irate huff and swung her legs out of bed. If she was awake, she may as well be up. She padded into the kitchen, pulling her dressing gown closer around her in an effort to block out the morning chill that had started creeping into the house now that summer was at an end. As Regina went to make her first cup of coffee of the morning she noticed a white piece of paper on the counter. It had been folded in half so that it was standing upright; her name scrawled across it in an untidy rounded hand which almost resembled Henry's writing. She picked up the note and read.

' _Regina,_

 _Thanks for letting me crash. Have gone into the station to catch up on stuff. Sorry for all the hassle I caused._

 _Emma.'_

Regina read the letter through again, her brow furrowed. It bothered her somewhat, Emma having left without a word after everything she had done for her during the past two days. And it was certain to upset Henry a little that his blonde mother hadn't even waited until he was awake before dashing off. She huffed as she scrunched up the note in her fist before tossing it unceremoniously into the bin. She really shouldn't be surprised that this was all the thanks she would get from the sheriff for her hospitality, but then, Emma had always managed to get under her skin like that. It was just that now she seemed to notice it more.

After Regina had eaten and dressed she went to strip the bed linen off of the guest bed. She tossed the pillow cases on the floor followed sharply by the bed sheet before roughly tugging and pulling the duvet out of its cover.

"What did the duvet ever do to you?" Regina turned to see Henry standing in the doorway rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Did Emma already leave?" He asked, not quite managing to keep the hurt from his voice.

"She had to go into work," Regina said, the irritation she was feeling creeping up slightly at the somewhat crestfallen look on her son's face. "But I am sure she would have stuck around to say good morning to you if she could have," Regina added, forcing a smile. Henry nodded and watched in silence as Regina pulled the duvet out of the sheets with one final tug and bundled it all up to carry down to the laundry room.

"Can I have pancakes for breakfast?" Henry asked hopefully. Regina chuckled. Every Saturday.

"Of course," she smiled. As she went to leave the room Regina turned, taking one final glance around to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, when she spotted a set of keys lying on the bedside table furthest away from her. Leave it to Miss Swan to forget her own house keys. At least, she thought, she might get to see her again later. The thought seemed to ease the unexplained irritation that had been gnawing at her all morning, and it was replaced instead by the gentle flapping of butterflies in her stomach.

They descended the stairs and Regina turned to the laundry room calling to Henry as she did so.

"I just have to put these sheets in and then I'll come make you breakfast."

"Speaking of," Henry said trotting after her. "Did you wash my blue blanket?" Regina frowned. Henry had had the blanket since he was a baby, and although he claimed he didn't need a comfort blanket any more, he liked to have it across the end of his bed all the same. She had put the freshly washed blanket back across his bed two days ago, just before he and Emma had returned from the woods.

"I put it back on your bed the other day," she frowned.

"Well, it's not there," Henry said with a shrug.

"Are you sure?" Regina asked, and he nodded. If she didn't distinctly remember placing it back across his bed she would have thought that maybe she had forgotten. That it was still sitting in the laundry room. But she knew that she had, because she remembered thinking how, not matter how much he had grown, and now matter how much he pretended otherwise, he was still a child, still the same baby she had wrapped up in that very blanket. It was a rare moment of reflection that she had enjoyed just before he and Emma had come crashing home. So she knew she was not wrong.

"It will turn up somewhere," she said slowly. After all, it couldn't have simply got up and flown away. Could it?

Emma was sat in her office at the sheriff's station, reclined in her chair staring blindly over the paper work that she had claimed both to Regina and her parents she was catching up on. Technically she wasn't on duty today, and David was out on patrol so there was no need for her to be here, but when she had woken that morning and the memories of the past couple of days had flooded her head as clear as the words on the untouched forms in front of her, she had felt a familiar sense of panic rise up in her chest, threatening to take hold of her throat with it's long spindly fingers and choke her. She had felt it several times before, with Neal, when Henry had first brought her to Storybrook. It was the urge to run. That tiny voice that focussed only on self-preservation and spoke up every time another human being started to get close to her. It whispered to her, urging her to flee. And this morning, the memories of how Regina had taken care of her, soothed her, held her, and the warm feeling that had spread through Emma at her touch, not to mention the pure, unadulterated terror she had felt as seeing the older woman killed in front of her in her dreams, had made that little voice scream. It had set off all her alarms until they were whirring and wining and crying and shrieking so loudly that Emma had snatched up her belongings and fled, leaving only the hastily scrawled note behind.

She couldn't quite face going home yet. She knew that although her mother was well aware of what had happened, she would interrogate her as soon as Emma's big toe was over the threshold so that she could hear all the details again. As much as she loved Mary-Margaret, she couldn't bare to be smothered right now. On top of that, she was sure Mary-Margaret would want to know why she had stayed at Regina's, and not come home at the first opportunity. And that was one question she did not have a satisfactory answer for. Regina could very easily have poofed her home and let her mother take care of her. The pure, perfect, caring Snow White was more than capable of taking care of her daughter. But for reasons she didn't fully understand, she hadn't, and in truth, Emma was rather glad of this. She had felt safe with Regina, and despite what she would have expected, she hadn't been embarrassed that the former Evil Queen had witnessed her waking up screaming multiple times. She had known each time exactly what Emma had needed, and hadn't made her feel awkward about being so vulnerable. She had even managed to make light of the situation. And furthermore, Emma was sure that had she woken up screaming Regina's name in front of her mother, the beloved princess of the Enchanted Forrest would have had more that a few questions about it. And then there was the question of why she had been dreaming about Regina in the first place. Regina had said that the plant preyed on one's deepest darkest fears, so she could understand why Henry had been one of the people in danger in that dream. But why Regina? Surely her parents would have made more sense? But no. It was Regina. Regina who had penetrated her nightmares of loss, Regina who had been the one she wanted close, and only Regina whom she had wanted taking care of her. And it terrified her.

Emma's phone buzzed, Regina's name lighting up the screen for a second. Emma watched as the screen went black. Five minutes later it buzzed again. Again she let the screen go black. And then again half and hour later, and an hour after that.

Regina rolled her eyes when Mary-Margaret's name buzzed through on her phone, followed by what she was sure was another frantic message concerning the after affects of dream vine or how Emma had seemed the last time Regina had seen her. She huffed, picking up the phone when Snow's Storybrook name lit up the screen again with yet another question. She scanned the messages quickly and resisted the urge to roll her eyes yet again. She really didn't have the energy for this. And her irritable mood from this morning was once again hovering above her like a storm cloud dangerously close to bursting. Emma had been ignoring her texts. Or at least, had not replied to them. And whilst she had no proof that the blonde was actively avoiding her, her inky black mood was doing a good job of convincing her that this was the most likely scenario. Especially considering that the only reason she was trying so hard to contact the Saviour was because she still had her keys. She wasn't sure why it annoyed her so much. It was rude sure, but the brunette was well acquainted with Emma's particular brand of ill manners. But it was stretching her patience with Snow to breaking point.

Regina sighed resignedly and stood up, grabbing her purse as she did so. The only way to deal with this effectively would be to kill two birds with one fireball and take Emma's keys to the flat and answer any further questions that Snow had in person. As much as it pained her to do so, she knew the pixie haired woman would not leave her in peace until she did so.

She knocked on Henry's door and found him sitting on his bed, comic book in hand. As her head appeared around the door he bolted upright, snapping the comic shut.

"I was just about to finish my homework," he babbled quickly, making Regina smirk half-heartedly.

"I should hope so," she said. "I have to head out for a little bit. Emma left the keys to her apartment here and your grandmother is bombarding me with questions still."

"Couldn't Emma come pick up her keys on the way home from work?" Henry asked, the tiny hint of hope in his apparently innocent question not going missed by his mother. Once again Regina could feel the anger she had held towards Emma begin to smoulder.

"That would be far too simple," she grumbled sardonically. "Besides, if I don't answer all of Mary-Margaret's questions she'll probably break my phone with the amount of messages she is sending. Then we'll start getting messages by bird," she added, her voice dripping with exasperation. Henry grimaced. He knew if that happened she would probably shoot them out of the sky before letting bird messages become a legitimate mode of communication in Storybrook.

"Okay," he said.

"I want all your homework finished by the time I get back to make dinner," she said. "Be good." Henry smiled and nodded as she left. He was sure that his blonde mothers' behaviour was the root cause of his Mom's current mood, which, despite the fact that neither seemed to have come to the same conclusion he had, made him feel hopeful.

Mary-Margaret looked up as she heard the sharp wrapping of knuckles against her front door. David and Emma had their own keys so surely wouldn't knock, and she wasn't expecting any visitors. She set down her mug of hot cocoa and went to peer through the spy hole. Her eyebrows raised in surprise as she found herself looking at an apparently irate Regina. She learnt very early on to read Regina's facial expressions. The pursed lips, tightly set jaw and impatient drumming of her fingers against her crossed arms told her that the older woman was currently trying very hard to hold on to a slowly slipping temper. She was not dangerously angry, more just irritable.

"Regina," Mary-Margaret smiled, opening the door. "I wasn't expecting you. What brings you here?" Regina held up a set of house keys and let them dangle there for a moment.

"Your daughter left these behind," she said. "And she isn't picking up her cell." Mary-Margaret thought she detected a little bitterness behind the second statement, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and ignored it. "I thought I would come and answer any other questions you had personally so I can answer them all before you start sending those annoying little blue birds to badger me further."

"They're cute," the princess grumbled defensively as she stepped aside to allow the former Queen entry.

"Would you like a drink?" Mary-Margaret asked, taking the keys from Regina and setting them aside in a little bowl on the breakfast bar.

"No thank you," Regina replied, taking a seat at the table only when indicated to do so by Snow.

"Is everything alright Regina?" she asked carefully. "Only, you seem a little…upset about something."

"I'm fine," Regina snapped.

"You can tell me you know," she petite woman said. "If you need someone to talk to." Regina laughed bitterly, making Snow frown.

"You have to appreciate the irony in that," she laughed. "The last time I confided in you Snow White it didn't exactly end well for me did it?" Mary-Margaret sighed and looked down at her hands and Regina mirrored her, seeing the hurt look in the other woman's eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm fine really. Just tired." Snow studied her quietly for a moment before nodding and holding up her hands in defeat.

"Okay," she said. "If you say so. I know better than to pry." Regina had to refrain from rolling her eyes at the notion that she would ever confide in the girl who had caused the death of her first love.

"So," she said, forcing a polite smile to her face. "What did you want to know?"

The two women talked for well over half an hour as Regina re-answered all of Mary-Margaret's questions, reassuring her time and time again that Emma was fine, that there were no lasting side effects, and that there was no chance of someone else accidentally picking it up.

"But here's what I don't understand," said Mary-Margaret thoughtfully. Regina closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, struggling to keep a hold on her temper. "Why, if it is clearly so dangerous, did you have it just lying about in the first place? That's not like you. Usually you keep everything under lock and key." Regina opened her eyes, surprised that finally a valid question had been asked of her.

"That's the thing," she said slowly. "I don't think it ever belonged to me. I don't remember ever having any in my possession, even back in the Enchanted Forest, let alone bringing any to Storybrook." Mary-Margaret's dark eyes widened and she leaned across the table.

"You mean, you think someone may have planted it there? For you to find?" she asked in a hushed tone, despite the fact that they were the only ones in the apartment.

"I don't know," Regina said. "But there is something else. The same night as Emma was poisoned by the dream vine, Henry's baby blanket went missing." She wasn't sure why she was mentioning it, but she had a nagging, whispering feeling that it was relevant.

"How do you mean? Like you lost it?"

"If I had meant that I had lost it would have said just that and most likely not have mentioned it at all," Regina snapped. "I mean," she said after taking a deep breath, "that I washed it, placed it back across his bed, and now it's not there. He said he never got it back from when I washed it. I honestly have no idea what has happened to it."

"Do you think it could have been stolen?" Snow asked.

"When? And for what?"

"By the same person who planted the dream vine?" Snow suggested. Regina pondered this for a moment before shaking the thought from her mind.

"We don't know enough to be jumping to this conclusion yet. I'll keep any eyes out for anything else that seems out of the ordinary. But until then, we can't make any assumptions." Snow nodded in agreement and Regina stood.

"I should really be getting back to Henry. Will you relay everything back to Emma when she gets home?"

"Of course," Snow smiled.

Regina closed the front door to the small loft apartment and turned around, pulling on her jacket as she did so.

"Regina?" The brunette looked up to find herself face to face with Emma, confusion stretched across the woman's face. "What are you doing here?"

"You left your keys at my house in your hurry to escape unnoticed this morning," Regina said tersely. Despite the agitation Regina had felt all day as she had waited for a reply from the sheriff to any one of her texts, she was not as happy to see her as she had expected to be. "A fact you would have been fully aware of, were you capable of picking up your phone Sheriff."

"I wasn't hurrying to escape," Emma mumbled, looking down at her hands. "I had work to catch up on."

"Well you could have at least waited to bid your son good morning," Regina snapped. "He has spent the last two days worrying about you and you didn't even have the decency to say goodbye or text him." Emma looked up, guilt pricking at her chest.

"Oh shit. Did he miss me?" Regina huffed, growing impatient.

"Of course. He was highly disappointed. I expected you to treat me like I don't matter and to ignore everything I did for you, but I did not expect your lack of a regard for other people's feelings to extend to our son." Emma's eyes widened at the unexpected onslaught and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey! That's a little harsh don't you think?"

"No Miss Swan. No I don't. One would think you'd show a little curtsy to those who took care of you," Regina snapped. "But apparently that's too much to ask." Regina flicked her wrists, purple smoke swirling around her, blocking the blonde sheriff from sight.

When the smoke had receded Regina found her self on her front door step. She'd pick up the car tomorrow. Where had that come from? Emma's actions had been somewhat inconsiderate perhaps, but had she really deserved to be attacked like that? If Regina was honest, the answer was probably no. Henry hadn't even been that upset. A little disappointed sure, but not upset. No, it was Regina who was upset. But why? Try as she might, this was not a question she could answer.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Regina's mood only seemed to worsen over the next day. She didn't hear from Emma, nor even see her around town when she and Henry went to the cinema that evening. And if Henry had had any contact with her he didn't bring it up. But by Sunday evening she realised she had much more pressing issues to worry about. Henry's blanket wasn't the only thing of his that had gone missing. So was his hairbrush, and his toothbrush. Regina managed to convince him that he had most likely left his toiletries at a friend's house that he had slept over at recently.

"It's weird Mom," Henry said as Regina tucked him in that night. "I mean, first Emma gets ill, then a bunch of my stuff goes missing. You can't pretend it's not an odd coincidence." He stared up at her, his dark eyes glittering nervously.

"But a coincidence it is sweetheart," Regina smiled. "At least until proven otherwise. We'll find your things." She placed a kiss on his brow and switched on the nightlight by his bed. "Now sleep Henry. You have school tomorrow. I love you." He forced a smile, as tight and fractured as her own.

"I love you too Mom."

Once Henry had left for school the following morning Regina decided to search his room for any signs of a break in. She knew there wouldn't be any physical signs. No normal thief would take personal items like hairbrushes and blankets. But, if she and Snow were right, there may be magical signs. If it was the same person who had planted the dream vine, then they would most likely have used magic to take the missing items. And magic always left a trace. She pulled a small red velvet drawstring pouch from her pocket and emptied the contents into her hand. The dark purple powder sparkled in her palm, winking knowingly at her as it caught the light that shone through Henry's window. She blew the powder from her palm and it flurried around the room, settling lightly atop every surface of the room like freshly fallen snow. Regina waited for the powder to settle, and once the room grew quiet again it started to glow. The window latch, the foot of Henry's bed, both seemed surrounded by a softly pulsating aura of purple light. A ribbon of purple dust snaked up from the windowsill and slithered towards the bed. Regina followed as it leapt from the bed and slunk across the landing towards his bathroom. Once it had graced the cupboard where Henry usually kept his hairbrush, and the now empty cup on the sink, the sandy ribbon glided across the hall and out of a window that Regina only now realised was open. She slammed the window shut, leaning heavily on the ledge. Her heart hammered frantically in her chest, blood drumming noisily through her ears, deafening all coherent thought. Someone had stolen three very specific items from her son. Right out from under her nose. Two of which may house his DNA, and one of great sentimental value. They were ingredients for a spell. She had to call Emma.

Emma had crept out of the loft early that morning. She knew her mother had heard her little row with Regina the other evening. Her parents had taken it in turns all weekend to ask her if she was okay and exchange worried glances over the dinner table. Eventually, the three of them had lapsed into an uncomfortable silence over dinner on Sunday evening, filled only by the scraping of cutlery on plates and the chewing and swallowing of food. Eventually Emma had shunted her chair back from the table, excused herself with a barely audible mumble, and locked herself in her room for the rest of the night. Having no intention of being bombarded by more questions or quizzical stares, she had left early for work.

Emma was now sat in the police car, cruising around the sleepy town on her second patrol of the day in an attempt to continue avoiding her parents, which was not the easiest of tasks she was forced to work with one of them. She couldn't handle their questions right now, mostly because she didn't really know how to answer them. Yes she probably shouldn't have snuck out like she did, and no it wasn't fair on the kid, but having texted Henry to apologise it seemed that Regina was more upset about it than he was. And that confused her. But then again, everything about the last couple of days confused her. She didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to pretend like none of it had happened. But she felt bad for making Regina so angry, especially after how she had taken care of her. And there was no way she could avoid her forever.

Emma sighed and got out of the car, closing the door a little more forcefully than she had to. She needed a coffee. Ruby smiled at her as she entered the dinner, the little bell above the door cheerfully announcing her arrival.

"Coffee?" Ruby smiled. Emma nodded, taking a seat at the bar and accepting the hot mug of steaming black caffeine gratefully between both her hands.

"Thanks Ruby." She took a sip and allowed the hot bitter liquid to wash over her tongue. Not bad, but a little too strong, and not quite enough sugar. _Not as good as Regina's._ She scowled as the thought crossed her mind. The woman had spoilt any and all other coffee for her.

"Everything okay Emma?" Ruby asked as she absentmindedly dried the glasses lined up in front of her.

"Hmm?" Emma looked up from her mug to find Ruby's big brown eyes sparkling with concern and curiosity for her young friend. "Oh, yeah I'm fine Ruby don't worry." Ruby smirked a little.

"Your Mom mentioned you were ill, and that you spent a couple of days at Regina's," she said, putting the glass down and leaning across the counter, lowering her voice. "There something I should know about?" she grinned.

"What? No of course not!" Emma gaped at her friend. "Why would you assume that?" Ruby held up her hands in mock surrender.

"You two just seem close lately is all. Henry said you had been getting along really well." Emma rolled her eyes. Leave it to the kid to misinterpret things.

"Yeah, as friends and co-parents Ruby," Emma said. "Not as anything more you hear me?" Ruby's grin widened.

"Okay. Whatever you say." Emma could tell she wasn't convinced. And she could hardly blame her. After the other night, she wasn't even sure if _she_ was convinced by what she had just said.

"Trust me," Emma grunted. "It would never happen Ruby. I piss her off too much." Ruby frowned.

"Did you two get into another fight?" Emma shrugged.

"To be honest, it's kinda all my fault," she admitted. "Regina was just helping and I kinda threw it back in her face a little afterwards." Ruby smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry," she grinned. "You guys fight all the time. It's kind of your thing. At least you're not trying to destroy each other any more." Emma chuckled at this. She was right after all.

"This is true. It's not like I tried to murder her apple tree again."

"Then eventually you'll apologise and she'll forgive you and all will be well," Ruby said brightly. Emma couldn't help but smile a little. Her friends chipper outlook on life could be infectious sometimes. She always seemed to know the right thing to say, however unlike her mother she didn't feel the need to pry or be intrusive.

"Thanks Ruby," Emma smiled, throwing down a few dollars for the coffee as she stood up. She would apologise to Regina, they would make up, and then they could go back to pretending none of this weirdness had ever happened. At least, that was what Emma would do.

Emma's heart leapt a little as she reached the car and her phone buzzed, the Mayor's name lighting up the screen.

 _'My place. Now. It's urgent.'_

Emma frowned at the message. A little flicker of panic stirred in Emma's stomach. Was she okay? There was no new bad guy in town. What could have gone wrong? Her second thought was that something must have happened to Henry. But he was at school so surely if something had happened to him then Regina wouldn't be summoning her to her house. Furthermore if something had happened to her son at school Mary-Margaret would have called her. The second thing that troubled Emma was how snappy the text was. Regina wasn't much of a texter, but usually she afforded her messages the same level of grammatical correctness that she used on a day-to-day basis. They were formal, and polite, and if not polite they at lest held the same level of sass and sarcasm as the woman herself. They were never monosyllabic like this. Did this mean that she was still angry with her? The idea was certainly not an outrageous one given Regina's talents for holding a grudge. Or perhaps she was merely busy with whatever issue had forced her to call on Emma so soon after their little spat. If there was one thing that Emma was certain of it was that she wouldn't have contacted her if it wasn't important. She knew that brunette would much rather give her the silent treatment until she was forced to talk it out.

Regina was waiting on her front porch when Emma arrived, her hands clasped neatly in front of her. It was only when Emma drew closer that she saw how hard she was clenching her hands. Whether from nervousness, anger, fear, Emma didn't know, but her knuckles were white.

"Regina I'm really sorry ab…" The older woman held up a hand, silencing her.

"That is not why I called you here Sheriff and it hardly matters at present." Emma opened her mouth to protest but Regina interrupted her before so much as a single syllable escaped her lips. "Come in Miss Swan and I'll explain why I called you out." Emma frowned at the renewed formalities she thought they had passed but remained silent as she followed the brunette inside.

Regina led them into her study and sat in one of her small leather arm chairs across from the sofa where Emma was now perched. She was briefly reminded of the night she had first met the young blonde but she pushed the image from her mind and forced herself to focus.

"What's going on Regina?" Concern coloured the blonde's voice. "What's happened?"

"I believe," Regina started slowly, "that your incapacitation by the dream vine was not an accident. I believe that it was planted in my vault." Emma's green eyes widened.

"Tell me everything you know," she said. "Now."

Emma listened patiently as Regina explained how the issue had played on her mind the day following the incident, prompting her to go and investigate, how she had come to the conclusion that the dream vine was not her own. She then explained Henry's missing items, at which Emma's eyes grew to the size of that of an owl and she gaped at her. When she told her about the traces of magic she had found Emma sprang to her feet, glaring down at her son's other mother.

"Why didn't you tell me about your suspicions sooner!?" she yelled. "If you had any inkling that Henry was in danger you should have told me!"

"When?" Regina snapped. "As you were crying out in your nightmare riddled sleep or as you were sneaking out of my house like a teenager running off to a party?" Emma huffed and threw herself back down on to the couch.

"Fair point," she grumbled.

"Besides, I wasn't sure until this morning."

"So," Emma said slowly, trying to wrap her head around the situation. "You think that our new mysterious villain poisoned me as a distraction to steel these things from Henry?"

"Actually, I imagine the dream vine was meant for me but that's about the gist of it yes."

"But what would they want with Henry? Who are they?"

"I don't know," Regina said quietly, her eyes on her interlaced fingers.

"Why would they target him? What would they steel those items for?"

"Spell ingredients," Regina mumbled. "But before you ask I don't know what spell for or who they are or why they would target him." Emma noticed the light bounce off of the whites of Regina's knuckles. "In short," she said through gritted teeth. "I know _nothing."_ The mirror on the wall behind Regina shattered, making Emma jump. Regina only sat rigidly, her hands still clasped tightly in her lap. Emma sighed, taking a deep breath as she attempted to calm herself and gather her thoughts. She walked over to the rigid brunette and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look up. For a split second, all the anger flooded from Regina's face and was replaced with sheer panic and fear.

"This can't be happening again," she whispered. "We can't loose him again."

"We won't," Emma said, giving her shoulder a little squeeze. "Now, show me this spell you did. I want to see how they got his stuff."

Regina led Emma upstairs and walked her through the rout that the now faded dust had shown her an hour or so ago. Emma examined the window ledge and then the bathroom, huffing when she found nothing.

"They used magic Emma," Regina said in bored tone. "It doesn't exactly tend to leave material evidence." Emma thought for a moment, her brow furrowed, the corners of her mouth pulled down into a little frown. She looked like Henry when he was contemplating a difficult math problem. The thought made Regina smirk.

"Well, they can't have floated them across town right? It would get seen, especially with a big ass blanket flying around like some magic carpet. Someone must have been waiting to collect them from outside." Regina shivered at the thought of this stranger stood only metres away from where Henry had been sleeping. "They might have left some evidence out back." Regina nodded.

"Follow me," she said dryly.

Regina led Emma outside and around the back of the house to a flowerbed directly below the window that she had found open that morning. She watched in silence, arms crossed over her chest as Emma searched.

"I think I have something," Emma said slowly.

"What is it?" Regina stepped closer, peering over Emma's shoulder as the blonde picked up a snagged piece of dark purple fabric between her fingers and bagged it.

"There's blood on these leaves too." She pointed. "The perp must have got snagged on your roses."

"Beautiful and deadly," Regina muttered.

"So not unlike you," Emma grinned. Regina raised a single slender eyebrow, a smirk twitching at her lips.

"You think I'm beautiful Sheriff?" Emma could feel her face suddenly growing hot.

"You're…well… always… uh,well presented," Emma stammered. Regina continued to smirk down at the blonde, but brushed past the subject none the less.

"Pick up the leave also," she said. "I can use the blood to create an identification spell." Emma nodded and did as she was told, hurriedly folding the two bags and shoving them in her pocket, avoiding Regina's dark gaze as she did so. The two women walked in silence back around to the front of the house and stood for a moment on the front porch. Emma looked down at her shoes, her hands shoved deep in her back pockets.

"So," she said. "What do we tell Henry?"

"I don't want to tell him anything just yet. Not until we have more to tell him than, 'an unknown evil force may or may not be after you but we don't know who, how or why.'"

"Okay. So, what next? What's our plan of action?"

"Tomorrow we can examine the evidence and figure out who is after Henry and what they wanted his things for. Then we'll speak to him. Meet here tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds like a plan," Emma nodded. "We'll figure this out Regina. He'll be okay." Regina nodded.

"See you tomorrow Miss Swan," she said quietly. She turned and closed the door on the blonde who was still stood on her porch. She leaned back against the closed door, shutting her eyes, fighting back the tears that burned behind her shuttered lids. This couldn't be happening. Not again. She couldn't loose him again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Regina spent the entire night combing through mounds of books, flipping through volume after volume and pouring over each dusty page, desperately looking for something that might help her figure out what this mystery villain wanted. She had poofed the relevant books from her vault to her study at the mansion, not wanting to leave Henry alone in the house when it appeared to be him that this person was after. Her study was now a maze of teetering towers, made of building blocks of precariously stacked books bound in heavy leather, hard wooden covers or rough dark fabrics. She had read until her eyes itched from tiredness, and then she had continued to read. It had been around five in the morning before her stinging eyes had finally pulled themselves shut against her will, and the book she had been buried in had become her pillow.

A sharp knocking made Regina jump, her eyes snapping open.

"Regina?" She heard Emma's muffled voice echo through the house from the front door. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Pushing herself up from her seat at her desk she glanced at herself in the mirror and grimaced at what she saw. She looked about as good as she felt. Her skin was sallow and she had soft purple shadows under her red-rimmed eyes. She waved her hands tiredly in front of her, magically changing herself into a fresh set of cloths and tidying up her hair a little. She dragged her fingers through it, attempting to put a little life back into it, but it simply hung short and straight around her tired face. She rolled her eyes, giving up and turning away from her somewhat bedraggled appearance. This was about the best she could do right now.

"Miss Swan," she said, opening the door. Emma smiled brightly at her.

"Geese I thought you were never going to open up," Emma grinned. "I thought I'd have to break the door down."

"Well I'm very glad you didn't," Regina replied matter-of-factly. Emma followed her into the house where the two of them were greeted by Henry walking down the stairs towards the kitchen in his school uniform.

"Emma!" he said, smiling at his blonde mother. "What are you doing here?"

"Your Mom wanted to check that there were no lingering side effects of the dream vine," Emma lied quickly.

"It's nothing to worry about," Regina added, forcing a little smile as Henry frowned at the pair of them. "We are just making sure." Henry nodded and seated himself at the breakfast bar.

"Okay," he said as Regina made him a mug of hot cocoa. She handed it to him and turned to put a bagel in the toaster and Henry looked from one mother to the other, a tiny smile tugging at his mouth. "Does that mean you two aren't fighting any more?" he asked hopefully.

"No dear," Regina smiled. "And we weren't fighting, not really. It was just a minor disagreement."

"Good," Henry said as he accepted his bagel. "I prefer it when you two aren't fighting. We feel almost like a family when everyone is getting along." Emma smiled and ruffled his hair.

"We are a family kiddo. A kinda complicated and messed up family, but a family never the less."

"You know what I mean," Henry said. "It's just nice that you two are friends again." It was true, Emma thought. It was nicer for everyone when they were getting along. And if she was honest, she had sort of missed her friend over the past couple of days. Emma smiled at Regina and the brunette returned it, remaining quiet, although Emma could see that it was somewhat forced and half-hearted.

"Come on kid," Emma said once he had finished his breakfast. "You'll be late for your bus." Henry grinned and hugged them both before heading out of the door.

"Love you guys!" he called, slamming the door behind him.

Once Henry had left, and the two were alone in the kitchen, Emma took the chance to properly look at the woman sitting opposite her. She hadn't noticed at first, but she looked tired. Her hair wasn't blow-dried, her lips were unpainted, and her dark eyes seemed ever so slightly red and shiny. It wasn't something most of the town's people would notice, but Emma knew her better than most.

"You look tired," Emma observed. Regina looked up at her and forced a tiny smile.

"The past few days have not exactly been relaxing," she mused. Emma grimaced. She was, of course, partly to blame for that.

"Sorry 'bout that," she grinned sheepishly. Regina waved away her apology dismissively.

"Don't be," she said. "It was most likely meant for me anyway so I suppose I should be thanking to you. You saved me from having to go through that and Henry from having to deal with it alone." Emma reached across the table and took Regina's hand in her own, giving it a little squeeze. The action roused the butterflies in Regina's abdomen who had been twitching nervously ever since the blonde had come through the door, and she looked up at her, meeting her bright green eyes with her own.

"You wouldn't have had to go through it alone. You know I would have been the first person Henry would have called. I would have looked after you." Regina smiled weakly before withdrawing her hand and standing up, suddenly business like once more.

"We should get down to business." Emma nodded, perplexed by the older woman's sudden change in mood. "I spent the night trying to figure out what spells would call for such personal ingredients like that, especially DNA of the person in question. That was what made it unique."

"I'm guessing this is pretty advanced magic then?" Regina shrugged.

"Well, yes and no." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Very helpful your Majesty. Care to elaborate?" Regina smirked a little at the blonde's use of her old title.

"Well, if I am right, and I am sure that I am, it's sort of the opposite actually. It's powerful, and it's old, but not sophisticated. The fact that this person needed more than one source of Henry's DNA makes me think that it's a type of magic used mostly in the swamp realms."

"What do you think they are doing?" Regina took a deep breath and clasped her coffee cup tighter in an attempt to mask the shaking of her hands.

"I think they're making a tracking spell." Emma frowned.

"Like the locator spell I did the other day?"

"No. This would allow the caster to keep track of the person's location over an extended period of time. Like tracking them via GPS so that they can spy on them without actually having to follow them." Emma stared at Regina, silenced by disbelief. She could feel her heart beat growing steadily faster, blood screaming inside her to run, to take Henry and Regina and run as it pounded through her head. But what good would that do if they could track their every move?

"So someone is spying on him?" She could hear the panic creeping into her voice. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her thoughts and regain control of her racing heart.

"I think so," Regina nodded.

"So what do we do? What's the plan?"

"We use the blood on the leaves you found to try and figure out who it is that's targeting him. That way we can figure out how to get rid of them. Once I know who I'm dealing with they won't survive." Regina growled, her eyes darkening. "Trust me."

Regina poofed them down into her vault and immediately began pulling ingredients from various draws and boxes. She set them aside and pulled a small pewter cauldron from under the table. Emma smirked.

"What?" she said, looking up at the blonde's amused face. "Out with it Swan." Emma chuckled.

"You have a cauldron?" she giggled. Regina rolled her eyes and started adding ingredients.

"Yes Miss Swan, I have a cauldron."

"Double double toil and trouble much?" Emma grinned.

"Well done Emma, you know your Shakespeare," Regina sighed.

"That's Shakespeare?" Emma asked surprised. "I thought I was just used in that bit in Harry Potter?" Regina rolled her eyes again, but couldn't quiet prevent the smile from tugging at her lips. Of course it would be too much to ask for Emma Swan to know Shakespeare.

"No dear. It's Shakespeare. Any way, the line from the part in Harry Potter that you are referring to was modified from the original." Emma's mouth dropped and she gaped at Regina disbelievingly as the older woman adjusted the flames with her magic, pulling little flames from the fire under the cauldron and extinguishing them in her palm.

" _You_ know Harry Potter?" Regina smirked as Emma continued. "I mean, Shakespeare I expected, but Harry Potter?" Regina continued to smirk as she looked up at the bemused saviour.

"Yes Emma. I know Harry Potter. I was curious as to what this world thought of magic so when the books came out I couldn't resist reading them. And once Henry was old enough he wanted to watch the movies and read the books too." Emma smiled, feeling pleasantly surprised by this new titbit of information on the former Evil Queen. It made her realise just how little she really knew about Regina, and how much she wanted to remedy that, especially if the dark haired witch was going to keep surprising her like this.

"I'm ready," Regina said, dipping a small vial into the potion and scooping some out. Emma dug the plastic bag containing the bloody leaves from her jacket pocket and handed them over. Regina tipped the now dry and skeletal leaves onto the surface of a mirror, then upended the vial, the potion tumbling out over the leaves and splashing off of the glass in little beads. Thin tendrils of lilac smoke slithered up from the mirror, snaking around each other until they formed a large round circle that hovered above the picture. As the smoke cleared from the centre a clear window was left in the middle from which the gently swaying images of the two women gazed back at themselves. It was like looking through a window covered in rain drops, the image staring back at them distorted and nauseating. The picture shifted, and through the window they could see the dark shadows of a murky swamp. The smell of stagnant water seemed to permeate the invisible glass of the smoke mirror, filling Regina's vault. And then they saw it. The green sallow skin was hardly distinguishable from the muddy water surrounding it, but as the creature rose for air Regina recognised the burnt red hair that hung in limp strands like fat wriggling worms around the beast's sickening face. Swamp green eyes glittered dangerously as a sharp toothed smile spread across it's face, and it lunged for it's prey, shattering the smoke spy hole as the two women watched in silence.

"Okay," Emma said, placing the hot mug of coffee in Regina's hands and taking a seat next to her on the sofa. "Explain. Who was that person?" Emma watched as the brunette took a slow sip of coffee, staring ahead of her all the while. She hadn't spoken a single word since she had cast he spell, and her silence was beginning to unnerve the Saviour.

"Her name," Regina began slowly, "is Madame Medusa." She took another shaky sip of her coffee. "She's a swamp demon. Some witch who was cursed and is now stuck in a rather unsightly limbo between human and, well, creature. She inhabited the swamp lands on the edges of our lands when I was married to the King."

"What does she want? Why is she targeting Henry? Did you do something to her as the Evil Queen?" Regina turned and scowled at Emma.

"I'll thank you to drop the 'E' word if you don't mind," she snapped. Emma raised her hands in surrender.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she said quickly. "You know I don't mean it like that." Regina sighed and let the issue drop.

"To answer your question, it wasn't so much me, but rather, Leopold and I, who hurt her." Emma's eyebrows rose in shock but she remained quiet, allowing Regina to continue. "A noble couple came to the king for help. Madame Medusa had kidnapped their daughter, Penelope, and they needed help to get her back. The King turned to me for help, knowing that I had a rudimental understanding of magic. I suppose he thought from my mother. I helped the castle nights get the girl back but in the process, her children, more like alligators there was so little humanity left in them, were killed." Regina broke off, and Emma could see her hands were shaking. "She wants revenge," she whispered, her eyes growing wide. "My child for hers." It wasn't exactly a surprise. But hearing the words spoken out loud, letting them circulate her brain and seep slowly into every pore made the dreaded reality of the issue suddenly solid. Their son, whom they had only recently saved from Neverland, whom they had just got back, was once again in grave danger.

"How is this happening?" Emma murmured, letting her head flop into her hands. "This can't be happening again."

"I'll kill her," Regina growled. Her dark eyes seemed to shine black as she said it, her jaw set as she trembled with terror and anger. Suddenly Emma caught a glimpse of the Evil Queen whom she had heard so much about, but had never really met. And it was terrifying. "If she lays a finger on him, I'll kill her," Regina snarled again. Emma carefully removed the coffee mug from Regina's hands, their fingers brushing each other in a ghosting touch for the briefest of moments. Regina looked up at Emma, the contact startling her, as the blonde set the mug down and took her hands in her own, holding them tightly to stop them from shaking. The warm touch of Emma's soft hands seemed to melt the black ice in Regina's dark eyes as they met emerald green, and was replaced by pure fear. It was an expression Emma had only seen on the older woman's face twice before, the two times they both watched Henry die in front of them.

"I'm not going to let that happen to him Regina." The Queen could feel her resolve cracking, her mask splitting as Emma spoke, and with each word she found it harder to keep her tears at bay. "We know who is after him. We can put extra protective spells around the house whilst we find a way to track her down. He will be okay Regina." Emma gave her hands a little squeeze and forced what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"You promise?" Regina whispered.

"I promise."

When Emma arrived home that evening she found Mary-Margaret sitting at the kitchen table, her head bent over her lesson plans. She looked up when she heard the door snap shut and smiled at her daughter who slumped down on the sofa.

"Everything okay?" she asked, seeing the weary expression on Emma's face.

"Not really. There's a new big bad in town. Regina's coming over in an hour or so to discuss it with all of us." Her mother nodded thoughtfully.

"She said the other day she was worried." Snow looked up at her daughter, a little smile creeping onto her face. "But the two of you are talking again," she smiled. "That's good, right? Does that mean you guys aren't fighting any more?" she asked hopefully. Emma frowned suspiciously.

"Yes," she said slowly. "I mean we didn't exactly do an exchange of heartfelt apologies but we're good." Mary-Margaret smiled down at her lesson plans again.

"That's good," she smiled.

"It wasn't exactly anything to worry about," Emma said dismissively. "It was almost like old times," she added sulkily.

"Emma," Snow said after a tentative pause. "Is… is there something I should know about?" Emma looked up, a frown creasing her brow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Snow began, fiddling restlessly with the corner of a sheet of paper in front of her. "You two have been getting closer for a wile now. You've not been fighting as much since we all got back from Neverland, taking magic lessons from her. I just thought… maybe…"

"Mom! Stop!" Emma's eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open as she gaped at her mother. "That is none of your business."

"Sweetheart you know we'd love you all the same," Snow began, but Emma held up her hand, silencing her.

"Regina and I are not involved Mom," she said shortly. "Jeez have you been talking to Ruby or something?" Snow simply frowned at her and Emma sat back in her chair, running a weary hand over her face and head. "Trust me, Regina does not like me like that. Sometimes I'm not even sure she likes me full stop." The little knowing smile had reappeared on her mother's face and Emma rolled her eyes.

"Trust me Emma," she smiled. "She likes you. A lot more than you think she does. Regina makes it clear when she doesn't like a person. Trust me," she grinned. "I know."

"Just because she is no longer trying to destroy me doesn't mean she likes me," Emma scoffed. "Not like _that_ anyway." Snow simply shrugged.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Despite the fact that Emma had spent the rest of the evening discussing the threat posed by Madame Medusa with Regina and her parents, it was the conversation with her mother that stuck with her when she went to bed that night. It wove its way through her thoughts, knitting itself into the pattern of danger and confusion that seemed to be smothering her life at the moment. She found herself analysing the events of the past few weeks, months even. It was true, they had a much more easy relationship with one another now. The events that had taken place in Neverland and the forced truce it had created had made them realise that they had more in common than they had previously thought. They had come away from the whole experience promising Henry that they would make an effort to get along for his sake. Emma had however, thought that her heart was battling between Hook and Neil all that time. But when she thought about it, it was Regina's company that she had sought most when they had been stuck in Neverland. And ever since they had got back she had avoided Hook as much as possible, and Neil had died on the island. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that her relationship with Regina had changed, and she no longer knew where she stood with her son's other mother. And it unnerved her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"So, someone is spying on me?" Henry asked, managing to keep his voice from shaking. "An… an alligator swamp monster thing, is spying on me, and probably wants to hurt me 'cos Mom saved some girl in the enchanted forest?" Snow, Charming, Emma and Regina all had their eyes fixed on him, trying to gage his reaction. So far he seemed to be taking the news relatively well, but more than anything that worried his mothers, who were both all too aware of is hero complex. The last thing they needed right now was for their son to underestimate the danger he was in, in the name of bravery. They did not need a Neverland repeat.

"That's about the gist of it," Emma said heavily. "But you know we will never let anything happen to you."

"We have a plan," Regina said. Henry frowned as they explained the rota they had devised around his usual school run and day, meaning that he would never be about town alone and exposed. Their hope was that if Madame Medusa saw that he was never without protection it would make it much harder for her to make an attempt on him, and perhaps buy them a little time to track her down before she could get to him. And even if she did, he would always have someone there to protect him whilst the others hurried to join the fight. Henry scowled at the idea.

"But surely she wouldn't try and take me in the middle of the day around town?" he said.

"We hope not but it's just a precaution buddy," David smiled. "It's not that we don't think you can look after yourself. But to put your Moms' minds at ease can we use the plan anyway? Just so that we know you're safe?" Henry thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay," he said. "For you guys." Regina smiled.

"Thank you Henry."

"So have you guys come up with a way to defeat her?"

"We're working on it kid," Emma said with a sigh.

"What's the code name?" Henry asked excitedly, making Regina frown.

"This is serious Henry," she scowled. "No code name this time."

"Come on Mom! All secret missions have to have a code name. And you guys are the heroes so you totally need a cool code name for this."

"Henry I…" Emma put a soft hand on the Queen's shoulder, quieting her. "It's okay Regina," she said quietly, making the older woman huff irritably. "The kid's right. We totally need a code name. What about Operation Crocodile?"

"Way too obvious Ma," Henry scoffed, making Emma chuckle.

"Okay. Well we can come up with one on the way to school okay? Come on, you're going to be late." Henry jumped down from his bar stool and swung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Wait a moment," Regina said as the reached the door. Henry turned and looked at her curiously as Regina fished two leather bracelets from her pocket, each with what looked like an ancient coin in the middle, one of gold and one of silver.

"I want you to wear this," she said, bending down and fastening the gold one around his wrist. "I have enchanted them so that they are linked. If you are in trouble, I'll know." Henry held up his wrist and examined the strange ancient writing around the coin.

"Thanks Mom," he smiled, hugging her.

"I love you," Regina whispered, holding him tight for a moment.

"Love you too," he smiled. "See you later." He waved briefly before walking out of he door with Emma and Mary-Margaret and down the stairs out of sight.

The day passed in it's usual, uneventful manner. Henry sat, doodling idly through math like he did every day, and payed closer attention in the lessons he liked. His teachers talked, he and his friends talked and got told off. Everything was normal. The only real difference was that his Grandmother seemed to be watching him closer and asking him if he was okay a little more often than usual. He loved her dearly but she didn't need to worry so much. Nor did his mother's for that matter. Although he knew the news this morning should have frightened him, it didn't as much as his family seemed to think it would. They all seemed to think that he would be, or at least should be, terrified. But he knew his moms and his grandparents would protect him. To be honest he couldn't think of a safer family to belong to. His moms were the Evil Queen and the Saviour, and his grandparents were Snow White and Prince Charming. He really couldn't be safer if he tried. He knew they would never let anything happen to him. Besides, heroes weren't afraid. They were brave and courageous. And if he was going to be one too, then this would be what he would be.

At the end of the day he packed up his things and Mary-Margaret walked him out to the parking lot where the school bus was waiting. He allowed her to walk him up to the bus, trying his best to ignore the curious glances and stares from the other children that shadowed him across the playground.

"David will be at the bus stop to pick you up and drive you back to Regina's," Snow said, forcing a little smile. Despite her best efforts, he could see that it was strained. "Don't walk home alone," she warned, using her best 'I'm serious' voice. Henry nodded and smiled.

"Okay Grams." He allowed her to give him a brief hug, and then boarded the bus. He waved briefly to the pixie haired brunette before sitting back to text his Mom, letting her know he was on the bus and on the way home. He hit send and sighed. He couldn't help but feel that all this extra security was a little excessive. Any sensible person would never dream of trying something in public would they? He knew if _he_ were a villain he would be smarter than that at least.

When Henry got off the bus his grandfather was nowhere to be seen. He figured he was probably running late, and so he leaned back against the wall of the grocery store, looking at his watch. In fairness, he was five minutes early. His stomach grumbled loudly, grabbing his attention. Might as well go get a candy bar whilst he waited. He grinned to himself. Regina would never have to know.

As Henry exited the store he looked around for David, frowning as the still empty street. Henry checked his phone. Nothing save for the message stating he would be five minutes late. Seeing as his bus had arrived early he wasn't particularly concerned. Finishing his candy bar Henry looked around for a trash can to put the wrapper into. He turned, spotting a dumpster in the little ally behind the store. Given his mothers obsessiveness over cleanliness and tidiness he was surprised there weren't five trash cans at every street corner. The dumpster would do. Henry felt a chill creep over him as he headed down the alleyway, like thousands of bugs creeping down his spine. He shivered, and quickly brushed the feeling aside as he reached up on his toes to discard his candy wrapper. Henry scrunched up his nose at the unfamiliar smell that seemed to slither from the alley. It was strange and alien to him. It smelt like dirt, humid air and stagnant water. He had expected it to smell the garbage, old food, and fish heads, that sort of thing. But this was different. Like something had died and was lying, rotting in still water. A deep chuckle echoed through the dim alleyway, bounding off of the walls and filling the air around him. Henry spun around, his heart pounding like a horses hooves on the hard road. A pair of sickly green eyes shone from the shadows and he heard a hissing at his feet as something large, solid and scaly brushed his legs.

"Oh yes," the voice chuckled. "This will be fun. Very fun indeed." Henry yelped, and everything went black.

Regina was sat in her office, pen poised above her paper work, the ink on the nib becoming slowly crusted and stiff from disuse. Her dark eyes flittered nervously from the clock to her phone and back again, the action repeating itself every few minutes or so. It had been half an hour since Henry had texted her to tell her he was on the bus. He should be with home now. Which meant she should have had a text from either him, David or Emma, preferably all three. But her phone lay, stubbornly silent next to her papers, staring blankly up at her. Of course it was entirely possibly that they had simply forgotten to text her and were arriving at her house now to be greeted by a waiting Miss Swan. Seeing as it was Emma that was waiting for them, it was possible that it was her they had texted and not thought to keep Regina in the loop. She snatched up her phone as it rang, but the flicker of relief was quickly snuffed out when she saw Emma's name on the screen.

"Emma? Are they home yet?"

"No. Has he texted you?" Regina felt her heart quicken and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of her nose to calm herself and preventing herself from panicking.

"Not since he got on the bus. Where is David? Why is Henry not with him?"

"He got a call last minute so he was running late. When he got there he couldn't see Henry anywhere near the bus stop. He thought he may have walked home but he isn't here and I haven't heard from him." At that moment the silver coin around Regina's wrist glowed white hot, searing a little round burn mark into her skin. She yelped and dropped the phone, clutching her still smarting wrist to her. Henry was in trouble. Something was wrong. She knew it. Regina grabbed her phone and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, appearing behind Emma who was still calling her name into her now dead phone.

"Regina? Regina, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Emma," she said, making the blonde jump and spin around to face her. "It's Henry. He's in trouble," she said holding up her wrist with the still glowing coin on it. Emma's green eyes widened as she stared at it. As she did so the coin was pulled free from Regina's wrist and spun across the hall, landing squarely on the wall. Both women watched in stunned silence as the coin grew, becoming smooth and glassy as it did so, it's surface resembling a flawless stretch of liquid silver. A harsh cackle issued from the mirror like face of the coin as the image of a dank shadowy cliff side came into focus. Emma gasped at the face that grinned back at them with pointed yellowing teeth. Lank burnt orange hair hung around the woman's sallow green tinged face, her muddy eyes narrowed at them from under heavy dark make-up. Although they could see that she had once been human, the cracked green skin and pointed teeth made her seem almost reptilian, and it was clear that she hadn't seen the sun in decades.

"Your Majesty!" she rasped, making a deep mock bow. "It really has been too long."

"What have you done with my son?" Regina growled.

"Nothing… yet," Madame Medusa's grin widened, stretching eerily almost from ear to ear making her resemble a reptilian Cheshire Cat. "But seeing as I had to watch when you took my babies from me, I thought I'd give you the same courtesy." The image in the silver mirror changed and the two woman yelled out, running towards the mirror which now showed their son, hanging by his wrists, chained to a mosey wet wall behind him. "Say good bye to your little prince darling," Madame Medusa chuckled. "The show starts in an hour."

When they arrived the door to the Charming's loft crashed open as Regina stormed through, her whole body shaking with rage.

"This is entirely _your_ fault!" Regina shouted, slamming her hands down on their kitchen table opposite where David was sitting. " _You_ were supposed to be there to meet him. _You_ were supposed to drive him home. This would not have happened if it weren't for _your_ lack of care and sheer stupidity."

"Regina, I got a call. What was I supposed to do?"

"Oh, so saving Puss in Boots from a tree was more important than protecting your grandson?"

"How was I supposed to know this would happen? I was barely ten minutes late!" David knocked over his chair as he leapt up from his position at the table, the two of them glaring at each other.

"Well clearly ten minutes makes all the difference because…"

"Enough!" Emma shouted, speaking up for the first time since Regina had all but kicked the door down. "This isn't going to help anything. What matters right now is not who's fault it is but how we are going to get him back. We have less than an hour to get to her lair and find him."

"Emma's right," Snow said from the corner. "We need to work together. Regina, you've faced her before with my father's men. What do we know?"

"She'll have crocodiles guarding him and or the entrance but other than that she tends to defend herself and her territory purely with her own magic. If you and David can deal with them, Emma and I can sneak in and take her out."

"But how do we find them?"

"Do you still have Henry's scarf?" Regina asked, turning to Emma who had gone silent again. She nodded. She had left the scarf in her car when she had got to Regina's and never gotten around to returning it to her son in-between avoiding his other mother, arguing with her, and trying to figure out who was after him. She raced up the stairs to his bedroom at the loft and reappeared moments later, clutching it close to her chest. Regina held out her hand and Emma hesitated for a moment before passing the scarf over. Regina waved her hand over the scarf and it began to glow.

The Charmings and Regina followed the scarf to the outskirts of the town and out into the forest. As they walked deeper into the heart of the dark woodland the temperature seemed to slowly creep up until the four of them had sweat beading down their brows, and mosquitoes buzzing impatiently around them, nipping at their newly exposed arms and necks. The path underfoot was slowly swallowed by thick vines that had snaked themselves through the undergrowth, and eventually gave way to a marshy swamp that stretched out in front of them towards the chasm that divided the wood. It was clear the swamp demon had made her self at home.

As the four of them waded through the shallow water all noise seemed suddenly to quiet. There were no birds in the trees, no scuttling of tiny paw and claws in the undergrowth, no noise at all, save for the water dragging at their legs as the walked.

"Stop," Mary-Margaret whispered.

"What is it?" Emma asked as they all stood still, David's hand on the hilt of his sward.

"It's too quiet," her mother whispered, tightening the grip on her bow. "This isn't right." A gentle rippling filled the air, making David's frown deepen as he scanned the water for whatever it was that had made the animals flee. Regina felt something brush up against her leg and swatted out at it lazily in an attempt to push whatever it was away from her. David's eyes widened in shock as he saw the log besides Regina roll, a set of yellow eyes flashing smugly at him.

"Regina no!" he shouted. But it was too late. Regina's eyes widened as she felt a set of sharp teeth clamp around her ankle and drag her under the murky water into a tight whirlpool that had opened up, and out of sight.

"Regina!" Emma screamed. And before either of her parents could stop her, Emma launched herself through the water and into the opening, which abruptly snapped shut, leaving the Charming's behind.

* * *

 **Chapter Notes:** I hope you are enjoying this so far! Please let me know what you think in the comments section or in a PM I love to hear peoples thoughts :) I'll have the next chapter out asap but in the meantime happy reading everyone :)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was hot. Emma could feel little beads of sweat rolling slowly down her face, hanging teasingly at the end of her nose before dropping with a little splash onto the ground. So it was wet also. She felt a light tickling crawl up her arm and she dragged her eyes open, looking up just in time to see a mosquito's needle pierce her skin. She shook her arm in an attempt to wave it away and the thick damp air filled with the clanking of chains. Her hands were tied above her head, chained to the stone wall behind her in a set of heavy iron manacles that had rubbed the skin around her wrists raw.

"Emma?" She looked to her left, following the sound of the raspy whispering of her name and her eyes flew wide as she took in Regina's blood stained dishevelled form. Her pants were torn around her right calf, soaked in the dark blood that was still oozing from her leg. Her hair, damp with greenish swamp water and blood hung limp around her face, a long gash muddying her hair line with drying blood and murky water.

"Regina!" Emma exclaimed, but the brunette quickly shook her head, indicating over to where the tall skeletal form of the rust haired swamp woman lurked, humming hoarsely to itself as it polished and cleaned an array of long sharp instruments.

"Henry?" Emma mouthed, and Regina turned her head to look the other way where their son was huddled on the ground, his knees drawn up to his chest, head ducked between them. Emma's eyes darkened, anger flooding every nerve ending in her body. She could feel it setting her magic alight, tingling hot beneath her skin as it itched in her palms, begging her to unleash it on the scaly demonic excuse for a woman that was currently prowling the shadows to their right. When she turned back to look at Regina she could see the same fury crackling in her dark eyes, like a live wire sparking dangerously close to water. Before she could open her mouth to silently question the brunette again one of the monstrous crocodiles that was prowling around their feet looked up at her and, noticing that she was now conscious, hissed and gave a gleeful snap. Madame Medusa froze and slowly pivoted around, a wide toothy grin stretching too tight across the almost translucent skin of her face.

"Well, well, well," she hissed. "Look who's awake. Now that all the members of the audience are present and accounted for, the show can begin."

"Sorry lady but I'm not one for drama," Emma spat. Madame Medusa cackled loudly, her horse voice dancing off of the cliff side they were chained to.

"Oh how sweet. You seem to think you have a choice," she grinned. "You see my lovely, the problem is, you don't. And I do so love to play with my food."

"Lay a hand on him and I swear to god I will destroy you!" Regina snarled, pulling sharply at her chains. Henry simply looked at his mothers, terror filling his hopeless eyes as the swamp woman tugged him sharply to his feet. She yanked his chains roughly above his head, making him grimace and fixed them in place.

"Don't touch him!" Emma bellowed, but the woman only laughed harder.

"Any last…" A loud swirling and sloshing sound filled the air, stopping Madame Medusa mid-sentence as they heard the portal that had swallowed Regina and Emma earlier open up just behind the tree line. All four heads turned in the direction of the sound and Madame Medusa hissed under her breath.

"Nero, Brutus!" she snapped, both the crocodiles turning their snouts to her, "deal with that! I imagine it's the blonde's dear old Daddy and Mommy. Give them a proper Bayou welcome," she sneered. The crocodiles slithered off on their bellies into the trees, Madame Medusa turning her attention back to Emma and Regina.

"Now then. Back to business. Or rather, pleasure," she grinned. "Any last words from the local royalty?" Regina grinned as a loud yelping echoed back to them, followed by David's full laugh.

"I'll ask you in a minute," she grinned. There was a hot flash of white light and Madame Medusa shrieked, stumbling backwards, her claw like hands raised in a pathetic attempt to shield her eyes from the combined white magic of the Saviour and the Evil Queen. The chains splintered and burst and the two women leapt forwards, Regina sending a blast of lilac magic at Medusa, sending the reptilian woman crashing into the cliff wall as Emma ran to Henry.

"I told you I'd destroy you," Regina growled, closing in on the crumpled woman. "And I always make good on my promises." Medusa's face stretched itself into a contorted waxen grin.

"I've learnt some things since you faced me last," she hissed. Leaping into a low crouch she sent a series of fast bolts at Regina's face which the Queen deflected one by one, stepping back a little each time she did. She sent a fireball at her attacker's chest, knocking her back and sending her rolling to the ground in an attempt to extinguish her burning rags. Regina sent down a branch, snatching up her ankle and unceremoniously flinging the reptile into a nearby tree with a satisfying crack. She spun round to see that Emma had now freed Henry and was now making as though to run towards her.

"No!" Regina yelled, holding up a hand to halt her. "Take Henry and get him out of here!"

"Regina…!"

"Emma take Henry and…" But before she could finish bellowing the order to leave Regina felt something heavy and solid crash into her side, knocking her to the ground with a hard thump. Madame Medusa was on top of her, clawing at her face and throat with her long spindly fingers and snapping her sharp teeth at her. The creature seemed to have forgotten whatever humanity was still inside of her as she hissed and snapped. Henry yelled out but before Emma could run towards the pair of them, Brutus and Nero launched them selves into her path, creating a thick scaly wall between her and Regina. Regina let out a furious cry as she looked up into Medusa's blood shot eyes. The woman had her hands pinned down under her knees and Regina found that her head was now dangerously close to the ledge of the chasm. She struggled, her cry strangled quiet as Medusa's sharp fingers closed around her neck. Regina gasped, desperately trying to drag air into her lungs, but to no avail. A black circle of fog began to close in on her vision, like a thick screen of smoke worming it's way between her and the reptile salivating over her as she slowly squeezed the air from her lungs. Somewhere in the distance, a long way off it seemed, she thought she could hear someone crying her name.

There was a dull thud, followed by a sharp gasp from the blurry figure above, and the pressure around her throat lifted. She gasped, sucking air into her lungs as her vision began to clear and she felt the dark shadow that the still conscious part of her brain knew was Madame Medusa fall away, like a cloud broken by the wind. Suddenly the sound of heavy footfall and frantic voices filled her ears. She blinked rapidly, still heaving air into her lungs, which grated against her tender throat and made her cough. Emma's face came into focus and she felt her surprisingly strong arms slip behind her shoulders and ease her into a sitting position. Was she mistaken, or were those tear tracks marking the blonde's grubby face?

"Thank god you're okay," Emma whispered, and Regina could feel her arms tighten around her shoulders in a sort of hug. Her eyes fell on Henry who was kneeling by her side and her heart leapt up into her throat.

"Henry!" she croaked, her horse voice scratching painfully at her throat. She launched herself away from the blonde, pulling her son into her arms. She wrapped him in a vice like hug, and in that moment she never wanted to let him go. She could feel tears running down her face but she didn't care. She didn't care that Henry's fists bunched up in her leather jacket as he clung to her, ruining the fabric; she didn't care that she had blood and dirt clinging to her hair and face; she didn't care that one of her most expensive pairs of pants were ruined. All she cared about, was the fact that he was safe. He was alive and he was safe and Madame Medusa was dead. Henry pulled back, tears running down his face and Regina took it in her hands, smiling through her tears.

"I thought you were going to die," he choked. "I thought she was going to kill you."

"I know sweetheart," Regina rasped, her throat burning with every syllable. "And I thought you would. I was so scared." She smiled at her son and placed a kiss on his forehead before turning to look back at Emma who, though her face was now dry, still had tears lingering in her eyes. "Speaking of, how is it that I am still alive?" Emma proffered a small smile and pointed to Snow, who Regina just now realised was standing close behind Henry, her husband at her side, both still with their weapons in hand.

"Snow?" Mary-Margaret nodded, smiling graciously and Regina couldn't help but return it. "Thank you," she whispered. Mary-Margaret waved away the thanks.

"Of course," she smiled. "You're family Regina. But you should really try not to speak. Rest your voice until we know what kind of damage that woman did to you."

"I think calling her a woman is a bit of a stretch," Emma muttered. "But my Mom's right, okay?" Regina smiled a little and nodded, allowing Emma to help her to her feet.

"Come on," David said, eyeing Regina and Henry with a little grimace. "You two need a hospital."

When Regina and the Charming family were finally all released from the hospital it was almost eleven o'clock at night. David and Mary-Margaret had all managed to come off fairly lightly, their injuries mostly consisting of a few lacerations and bite marks. Emma's wrists, which had been rubbed raw by their manacles, were now wrapped in clean white bandages, which matched those also sported by Henry and Regina, but other than that her injuries were fairly similar to her parents. Henry and Regina however had sustained a few more serious injuries. The abrasions on Henry's wrists were much deeper than those on Emma and Regina's, and as well as the bruises and scrapes that covered the rest of them, he had sustained a long gash on the side of his leg and along his shoulder, both of which had needed stitches. It was clear that he had put up quite a fight. Physically however, it was Regina who seemed to have come out of this worst. The bite on her leg where Brutus had clamped onto her to drag her under the water had left her with twenty plus stitches; her ribs, though not broken, were badly bruised from the impact of the surprisingly solid reptile woman as she had tackled her to the ground. The dark purple bruises matched those gracing her neck, a purple and black painting left by the swamp demon as a reminder of their little dance. Dr Whale had wanted to keep her in over night, but she had point blank refused and signed out AMA as soon as Henry was discharged. Emma had to hold back a laugh at the death glare she shot at the doctor when he had presented her with a wheel chair to take her to the front doors of the hospital.

Holding her side, Regina headed gingerly towards her car, Henry and Emma at her side.

"Oh hell no," Emma said as she went to open the door on the driver's side. "There is no way I am letting you drive in this condition."

"Miss Swan, I am perfectly capable…"

"No." Emma said. "You're not." Her expression softened and Regina could see the same concern in those green eyes that had greeted her once Madame Medusa's body had fallen off of her. "Regina, please, let me drive the two of you home. Just so that I know you both get there okay." Regina said nothing, simply nodding and heading round to the passenger's side of her Mercedes.

They drove in silence, Emma checking on Henry through the rear view mirror, then Regina next to her every ten minutes or so. Almost as soon as he had sat down Henry had fallen asleep in the back. She wasn't surprised after what he had been through today. Regina, on the other hand, seemed much more wired. She sat stiffly, one hand resting over her bruised ribs whilst her eyes flickered restlessly from the windshield, to the window next to her, then to Henry, and finally to Emma before resting back ahead of her for a brief moment before the cycle started again; her fingers drummed restlessly on her leg all the while. Emma reached over and took her hand, making the brunette look up.

"Breathe," Emma said softly. Regina let go of the breath she didn't even realise she had been holding, not letting go of Emma's hand. "He's okay," Emma said. "We're all okay." Regina nodded, not taking her eyes off of Emma, and so the blonde kept hold of her hand, only pulling it away for brief intervals to change gear, until they reached 108 Mifflin street.

Once inside Emma pulled both Henry and Regina into a hug. She felt Regina stiffen a little as she did so, but she quickly relaxed into it, her arms tightening around her son and his other mother. They were okay. She was okay. They pulled apart and Henry looked up at his mothers with large round eyes, filled with more fear than Emma had ever seen them. He didn't look like the rambunctious eleven year old that had once run away from home and made his way all the way to Boston on his own to find Emma, nor the stubborn little child who had tried so hard to save magic, nearly at the cost of his own life. He looked small, and sad. He reminded Emma of some of the kids he had shared a home with over the years, and that frightened her.

"Are you going to go back to the loft now?" he asked Emma, his voice small. Emma smiled, her arm still around his shoulders.

"Not if you don't want me to," she said.

"Do you want Emma to stay the night here?" Regina asked. "That way you know we'll both be right here if you need anything." Emma frowned at Regina, somewhat taken aback by this uncharacteristic display of openness. Usually she guarded her time with Henry with an extreme possessiveness.

"You sure that's okay?" Emma asked.

"Of course," Regina said, looking back down at her son.

"That would be nice," Henry said, and Emma smiled.

"You should get some sleep kid," she said, pulling him into another hug and placing a kiss on the top of his head.

"I love you Ma," Henry mumbled into Emma's sweater.

"Love you too buddy."

Whilst Regina was upstairs tucking Henry into bed Emma decided to make them both some tea, more so that she would have something to do than anything else. The past few days had been so manic both physically and emotionally. She felt like she had been pounded and kneaded like doe, then rolled out flat under a heavy rolling pin. All she wanted to do was sleep, sleep for days. But she needed to make sure everyone, including Regina, was okay.

"Sugar is in the cupboard to your right." Emma jumped, turning around to see Regina leaning against the doorframe, her hand back on her ribs.

"Thanks," Emma smiled, as the brunette made her way gingerly towards a stool at the breakfast bar. "Do you take sugar?" Regina shook her head and Emma slid one of the mugs across to her, seating herself opposite the woman once she had stirred more than enough sugar into her own mug.

"Have you taken any painkillers for your ribs?" she asked.

"Whale gave me some at the hospital and some to take home," Regina said, staring at her hands, which were wrapped tightly around her mug.

"You sure it's okay, me staying here? I've been here a lot recently." Emma smiled half heartedly, but the other woman only continued to stare at her mug.

"Of course," she said. "I want Henry to feel safe, and if having you here enables that then you can stay as long as he wants you here."

"I don't have any pyjamas." Regina glanced up at her and the shadow of a smirk tiptoed across her face.

"There are some freshly laundered track pants in the laundry room and a white T shirt you can borrow." Emma smiled and jumped up, heading for the hall. She stopped at the doorway, turning around.

"Where…?"

"Second door on the left, just down the hall," Regina said, that same shadow smirk ghosting her lips. Emma grinned sheepishly and disappeared in the direction of the laundry room. Regina drained the rest of her tea from her mug and slid off of her stool, wincing as her ribs protested loudly. The house felt cold, as it had done the night Emma had been ill, the night Madame Medusa had stolen her son's belongings. The thought made her shiver. She could picture her, standing under the window in the rose bush, her great scaly monsters prowling around the house as the swamp woman's magic snaked it's way into her home. She could never let that happen again. Regina made her way to the front door where she raised her hands. She sent out strong pulses of purple magic, reinforcing the protection spells she had put in place after she had found out someone had been after Henry. The magic however seemed too much for her, her body refusing to be put through any more exertion on top of the beating it had already endured that day. She pushed through however, determined to reinforce the entire house and all the magical locks she had put in place, despite the increasingly fuzzy feeling creeping it's way into her head.

"Regina? What are you doing?" Emma frowned as she walked back into the hall, track pants and T-shirt in hand.

"Taking precautions," Regina mumbled. She vaguely heard the blonde say something about, "not a good idea" and "your state" when the door before her seemed to waver and she felt the ground beneath her shift. She felt Emma's strong arms wrap themselves around her and suddenly found herself leaning into the younger woman, her vision blurry, her head feeling hot. She was vaguely aware of the woman's hand on her bruised ribs, but her clouded head didn't register the pain.

"Jesus Regina you could have fallen down the stairs," she heard Emma hiss under her breath, panic filling her quiet voice. Emma moved her away from the steps leading down to the front door and guided her down to sit on the bottom step of the staircase.

"Head between your knees," the blonde murmured, stroking a hand down the other woman's hair and gently coaxing her head forwards so that it rested on her knees. Regina let out a groan as her ribs protested and Emma continued to stroke Regina's hair, her voice soft.

"I know it hurts your ribs but it will clear your head okay?" Regina let out a long slow breath, trying to breath through the pain. She felt her head clear and when she opened her eyes her front hall appeared to have straightened itself out and come into focus. Very slowly, so as not to aggravate her already screaming ribs, she sat upright, taking note of the fact that Emma's hand remained at her back, protectively hovering there ready to take her weight should she collapse again.

"Better?" Emma asked. Regina nodded.

"Yes."

"Come on," Emma said, "I think you need to sleep. You took a major beating today and you're clearly exhausted."

"I just want to reinforce the locks and…"

"Regina, look at me," Emma said, taking both her hands in her own and Regina looked up into green concern soaked eyes. "Henry is okay. He is safe. I am okay. And you are okay. Since you found out about Madame Medusa you have more than doubled the security around this house. We will all be safe tonight. I promise." Regina dropped her gaze back down to her hands and gave the smallest of nods.

"Okay," she said. "But only because I don't think I could stand the embarrassment of having you find me passed out on the floor." Emma chuckled and stood up, offering Regina her hand. Regina glared at it. "I'm not an invalid Emma. I can stand up by myself." She went to push herself up, but her injured leg and ribs seemed to disagree with her and she winced as her leg gave out from under her. Emma caught her, strong arms catching her around the waist this time, careful to avoid her battered ribs.

"It's okay," she said, her voice low and soft. "I've got you."

Regina didn't sleep that night. She lay on her back, eyes wide and staring at the dark ceiling. The painkillers Dr Whale had given her were slowly wearing off and a sharp aching was beginning to wind its way through her ribs, as well as around her leg. And on top of it all, she couldn't quiet her mind. It flickered from point to point, showing her all the possible entry points to the house as she ran through them one by one like a check list, trying to remember what protection spells were up, which had physical locks on them and which did not. For hours she ran through her list. Front door, kitchen door, French windows in the back lounge, lower floor windows, bathroom windows, and on, and on and on. So at around three am when Henry yelled out she heard it loud and clear. She tore the covers from the bed and leapt up, trying her best to ignore the screaming complaints of her battered body. When she reached Henry's room Emma was already sitting next to their shaking son, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"Henry what happened?" Regina asked, her voice soft as she sat on her son's other side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"He had a nightmare," Emma said quietly, making Regina sigh.

"You want to talk about it?" Regina asked and Henry looked from one mother to the other, his eyes sparkling dangerously.

"She killed you both," he choked, unable to fight back his tears any longer. "She strangled you, and then turned on Emma and…" The two women pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly between them.

"We're okay," Emma said softly, planting a kiss on the top of his head. "Your mom's fine. She didn't harm any of us." Of course their son would be more traumatised by watching one of his mothers nearly dyeing than by having been kidnaped himself. Neither of them were really surprised by this.

"Can you guys stay for a bit?" he asked in a small voice, finally looking up at them both. Regina smiled.

"Well, I don't think there is really enough room in your bed sweetheart. How about we relocate to mine?" It didn't take much thinking about. Although under any normal circumstances the eleven year old would insist that he was far too old to sleep in his mother's bed, tonight all he wanted was to keep them both as close as possible. Henry nodded and followed Regina into the master bedroom, Emma trailing behind awkwardly. As Henry climbed into the middle of Regina's Queen sized bed Emma caught Regina gently by the wrist, stopping the brunette from following as Henry settled himself under the covers.

"You sure this is okay?" she asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper. Regina nodded.

"Tonight I think anything goes," Regina murmured. The women settled themselves either side of their son, the three of them snuggling close together. It wasn't long before Regina's bedroom was filled with the sound of her son's soft snores, and Emma's deep rhythmic breathing. Although she didn't sleep, she found the sound eased her mind. Eventually her body relaxed, and she spent the rest of the night studying the sleeping faces of the two people in her bed, rather than focusing on her list.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Emma woke to the sound of her phone vibrating gruffly against the hard wooden surface of the nightstand next to her head. She snatched it up as Henry stirred, grumbling quietly and rolling over to occupy Regina's now empty side of the bed, before his soft snores filled Regina's bedroom once more. She frowned, looking at her mother's photo that lit up the incessantly buzzing phone. It was only 7:30 am. Why was her mother calling her so early?

"Hello?" she croaked, her voice still thick with sleep as she stumbled from the room. "Mom is everything okay?" she asked once the door was securely shut again.

"Madame Medusa's body is gone," Snow babbled frantically. "Your father and I went down to the forest early this morning with Blue to try and clear up the mess after yesterday but it was gone."

"You're sure it didn't just roll over the edge of the cliff?" Emma asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer to that question.

"No we checked. And there's a blood trail. Emma, she walked away." Emma swallowed thickly, forcing down her fear and shaking hear head to clear it.

"Okay," she said. "Well with an arrow in her back she can't have got far. Can you guys continue to track her whilst I sort things out here?" She had a feeling that her current housemates were not going to take this very well.

"Of course," Snow said. "I'll call you if we find anything. It may be that she died trying to get away with the amount of blood that's here."

"Okay, thanks Mom." Emma hung up the phone and heaved a great sigh, running her hand through her hair. She had hoped this nightmare was over.

She wandered around the upper floor of the manner until she found the guest bathroom. Henry was still sleeping and she didn't want to wake him by barging in to use his other mother's en-suit. As she splashed cold water over her face she couldn't help but marvel at the fact that she had once again spent another the night in bed with the Evil Queen. Granted it was, yet again, not in the way that she had most recently entertained in her mind on her last long night shift, but the idea still amazed her. She had been disappointed upon waking not to find the brunette's sleeping face across from her on the other side of their son. It was an image she thought she would rather like to see. How she was going to break this news to the woman she had no idea. She had been unable to put the woman at ease last night when they had thought their scaly friend was dead. The idea that she was still alive would surely only make it all worse. She doubted Regina would be letting Henry out of her sight from now on. Emma sighed again and gave herself one last hard look in the mirror, noting all the little cuts and scrapes that shouted of last nights battle, and pushed herself away from the sink, bracing herself for the next one.

She found Regina sitting at her kitchen counter, a mug of gently steaming coffee in her hands. The half-full put sitting patiently next to the toaster told the blonde that this was not her first cup.

"Hey," Emma smiled. She noticed the way Regina's shoulders tensed at the sudden noise, even though Emma's voice had been little more than a murmur. She looked round and Emma saw her shoulders drop as she took in Emma's still somewhat sleep crumpled face, despite having just doused it in cold water.

"Hey," she said, a faint smile creeping to her lips, though it did not quite reach her tired eyes. "How did you sleep?" she asked, and Emma grinned.

"You have, without a doubt, the most comfortable bed in the world." Emma's heart gave a hopeful flutter at the slight smile her comment earned.

"I appreciate the finer things in life," Regina said, earning a smirk from Emma. "Did you really expect anything other than the best?" Emma grinned and shook her head.

" 'Course not." She fetched herself a mug and poured herself a strong coffee, adding sugar before sitting down next to the brunette.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, the smile gone from her voice as she took in Regina's grim appearance. In the stark early morning light that filled the kitchen she could see every cut and bruise in all it's vindictive glory, from the glaring purple finger marks still choking the woman's slender neck, to the obnoxious red gash at her hairline.

"I've been better," Regina muttered.

"You were gone when I woke up," Emma said quietly.

"I suppose it was my turn to sneak out of the bed this morning," Regina said with a grim smile. "We should try not to make a habit of that."

"Of sleeping together or of sneaking out on each other?" Emma grinned, to which Regina only gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"Take your pick Miss Swan."

"Did you get any seep last night?" Emma said, her tone suddenly serious again. Regina shook her head.

"I gave up at about five thirty." Emma winced. She supposed that explained the half empty coffee pot and the fact that the woman was already dressed.

"You should really get some sleep Regina," the blonde frowned. "You're hurt and exhausted and you need to rest."

"As much as I appreciate your concern Emma, having raised a child, and a screamer at that, I can assure you that I am well acquainted with sleepless nights. A little sleep deprivation is nothing I can't handle." Before Emma could insist her phone buzzed from her back pocket. Pulling it out Emma's heart jumped in her chest as she saw her mother's picture light up her screen.

"Hey Mom," she said, hitting the green phone. "What did you find?" Regina frowned, dark eyes silently questioning her as Emma listened to her mother babble frantically down the phone. Regina watched in silence as the sheriff's face grew steadily more and more grim, her heart beating heavily in her chest the entire time.

"Okay," Emma said finally. "Thanks Mom… Yeah. I'll make sure they're okay. I'll see you soon."

"What was that about?" Regina asked as Emma hung up the phone. Emma looked up at the brunette. Her fists were clenched, her jaw set. Emma sighed. "Something's wrong isn't it?" Emma nodded.

"My parents went with Blue to clear up the carnage we caused yesterday. They cleared up what ever weird-ass magic Madame Medusa did to turn the forest into a swamp but when the got to the gorge," Emma looked up at her, Regina's eyes wide, already filled with fear at what she knew the blonde was about to say. "Her body was gone."

"So… she… she's still alive?" Regina gaped.

"They think so." A dark chuckle bubbled from Regina's throat and Emma frowned as the older woman began to laugh.

"Of course she's still alive!" Regina laughed. "When has killing her ever been that easy?" Her manic laugh turned into a violent cough, her apparently still tender throat protesting loudly. Emma poured her a glass of water and Regina drank. When she set the glass down all traces of amusement where wiped from her face.

"My parents have been tracking her with Ruby," Emma said and Regina just nodded, her gazed now fixed on her hands which were clenched, knuckles white and threatening to break through her skin, around the empty water glass.

"You won't be able to do it without magic. She'll be cloaked. She's not simple. The two idiots and their puppy won't be able to track her alone." Emma took a deep breath, biting back a retort on the slight against her friend and her parents.

"Well with Gold dead, you and Blue are the most knowledgeable magic users in town, so what do _you_ suggest we do _your majesty?"_

"I can't do a locator spell I have nothing of hers to track her with," Regina muttered, more to herself than to Emma. "Might be able to do something using blood, doubt she has a mirror so I can't use one myself." Emma watched, her eyebrows knitting themselves closer and closer together as Regina continued to run through her options under her breath. She needed to sleep, to regain her strength and regroup her thoughts, but before Emma could say anything Regina had pushed her stool back from the breakfast bar and pushed herself up with a barely suppressed grunt of pain.

"Ill be back as soon as possible," she said. "I think there is a book in my vault which may help." And before Emma could so much as call after, the older woman had vanished in a thin cloud of purple smoke.

Emma watched as the brunette disappeared with a sigh, and upended the rest of her coffee into her hopeful mouth, grumbling loudly when the now cold caffeine coated her tongue. She already hated her mother for having woken her up so early, and she had a horrible nagging feeling that today would be a very long one. Her phone buzzed loudly next to her elbow, making her jump. She looked down to see a text from her mother and her heart rate picked up into a steady jog.

 _'Ruby has lost the trail. The scent got confused and the blood trail tapered out. Looks like magic may be the only way to track her down. You spoken to Regina yet?'_

 _'Yup. She's already on it.'_ Emma replied.

' _You told Henry yet?'_

 _'No. Not up.'_ The very thought of having to tell Henry that his kidnapper was still alive and kicking made Emma's heart sprint. ' _We'll let you know when we have found something, then you guys can come round and we'll make a plan.'_ Emma knew there was no chance that Regina would be willing for Henry to leave the house, and she herself wouldn't even entertain the idea of leaving their son alone to meet the others.

' _Sure. No problem honey.'_

 _'Thanks'_ There was however, another reason that Emma wanted to speak with her mother in person. Regina. The woman's almost erratic behaviour this morning had Emma worried. And as the day continued this feeling only grew. When she returned she had with her a pile of thick set leather bound books, so heavy that she had had to magic them back ahead of her rather than carry them, no doubt because her ribs could not take the strain. Emma had seen the woman stumble as she had appeared in the entrance hall, but the grim look on her face had told Emma very plainly not to react to it, especially as Regina had not noticed that Emma had seen.

"That was quick," Emma had said as Regina had made her way to the study where she had sent the books. "You found the answer in twenty minutes? I'm impressed." The blonde tried for a grin but Regina had simply huffed and glared at her, stating that if she had found the answer she would not have needed to bring all these books back. As Emma had suspected, she simply hadn't wanted to be away from Henry for any more time than was strictly necessary. She had then spent most of the day with Emma's help, putting up extra enchantments around the house, Henry watching the entire time. He seemed to be taking the news about Madame Medusa fairly well, but his trembling hands did not go unnoticed by his blonde mother. She thought though, that he seemed to be taking some comfort from watching his parents fortify the mayoral mansion together. It was most definitely the safest place in town right now, possibly the world Emma thought. But the more Emma watched Regina, the more she worried about her. She was pushing herself too hard, and her body was not cooperating. From the little magic Emma had practiced, she knew first hand that it was both physically and mentally draining. And Regina was in no fit state to be practicing any kind of magic, let along high level protection spells at this intensity. Twice that afternoon Emma had seen her knees shake and almost give way, but Regina had simply continued to push on, answering Emma's every "You okay?" or "How you doing?" with a short clipped "fine". Her face seemed only to grow gradually more and more waxen as the day wen on, the strain of the magic layered thickly on top of her lack of sleep and physical injuries, weighing her down until finally, after dinner, (take out from Grannies kindly delivered by Mary-Margaret) Henry convinced her to stop and watch a movie with him and Emma.

Regina eased herself onto the couch, a sharp intake of breath and a barely audible wince the only evidence of her painful ribs. Henry shot her a worried glance as her hand flew to her side.

"You okay Mom?" Regina forced a tight smile that was more grimace than smile, and leaned back into the sofa.

"I'm fine sweetheart," she said, the pained expression slowly leaking from her face as she relaxed, and her hands moved away from her ribs. "Just a little sore."

"You taken any pain medication?" Emma asked quietly, seating herself on Regina's other side. The brunette forced a little smile.

"I'm okay," she said. "I promise." Emma simply frowned at her, her superpower whispering frantically in her ear. She was anything but fine. But perhaps, Emma thought, now was not the right time to push.

She kept a close eye on Regina throughout the movie. The same nervous energy that had hung like fog around her all day remained, despite the fact that Henry had picked one of her favourite of his movies, Harry Potter 3. Of course she would love the one about a hated (all be it framed) criminal finding friendship and family again. But rather than hushing the commentary from Emma and Henry as she usually would, she simply gazed unseeingly at the screen, both the words from the screen and the words from her two film companions washing over her unheard. She didn't even object to the second bowl of popcorn Henry went to fetch. Instead, her eyes flitted nervously from window to window, landing on Emma and Henry briefly before going back to making their rounds of the windows and doors whilst her fingers danced nervously on against her thigh. It was almost, Emma thought, as if she were going over a list, over and over in her head. Though a list of what, Emma couldn't say.

Once the movie had finished and both women had tucked Henry into bed, Emma watched as Regina headed straight for the living room where she snapped her fingers and several of the books she had brought over from her vault appeared. Emma sighed quietly as Regina opened one and started flicking through it. She placed a hand on the other woman's shoulder and the brunette jumped slightly at the unexpected touch.

"Sorry," Emma said softly, sitting down next to her. "I didn't mean to make you jump." Regina dismissed her apology with a vague wave of her hand and turned back to the book in her lap. "You look tired," Emma said, not moving her hand from Regina's shoulder. "You should really get some rest."

"I'll be fine," Regina muttered, the shuttered look on her face making her almost unreadable.

"You'll be more productive if you get some rest and attack this with a clear head," Emma tried again, but Regina continued to read. "Regina seriously…"

"Look," the older woman snapped, looking up at Emma for the first time since she had entered the living room. "You may be perfectly happy to sit around and do nothing whilst the puppy leads your parents around in circles looking for the beast who kidnapped our son, but I for one would like to find a more efficient way of tracking her down." Emma simply stared at her for a moment. She knew she didn't mean it. She knew Regina was just using anger to hide behind so that she didn't have to admit how truly terrified she was. It was the only coping mechanism the other woman knew. Emma knew that. But it didn't make it hurt any less.

"Fine," she said quietly. She reached down and felt around inside Regina's purse, which had been discarded there the night before, her fingers closing around an orange pill bottle. "At least take these," she said, pulling out two little round pills and placing them on the coffee table in front of them. "You know where I am if you need me." Emma stood quietly and Regina listened as she left, letting out a little sigh once she heard Emma ascend the stairs, and the door to the guest room had snapped loudly shut. Regina winced a little at the affronted sound, her butterflies flapping morosely as they chastised her for her snappy tone. She hadn't meant to. But her desire to maintain her façade of strength had won out over the little voice in her head whispering to her that perhaps it was okay to accept the saviour's advice and comfort. Perhaps it wasn't weakness. But she didn't know how she was supposed to handle this. All she could do was muster up every last little flame, every spark and flicker of fury she had to fuel her strength. It was all she knew how to do. And at the moment, strong and angry was what she needed to be. Even if it meant hurting someone she cared about.

* * *

 **Chapter notes:** I hope you are all enjoying reading this so far! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think :) I love to hear people's opinions and what not. Happy reading my lovelies; I'll have more for you as soon as possible :)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Emma groaned as her phone buzzed obnoxiously loud against the hard wooden surface of the nightstand. Really? Again? Her mother really needed to learn that not everyone was awake before seven am every day. She sent a quick reply, confirming that everyone was okay and that she would see her later and then rolled over to punch the pillow into a more comfortable position. After ten minutes of rolling around and succeeding in nothing other than bunching herself up in her bed sheets, she gave up. She swung her legs out of bed and trudged towards the end of the hall, intending to make herself a large mug of hot steaming caffeine when she caught sight of Regina's door standing ajar, the bedroom light streaming through it. She sighed, hoping that it just meant that the brunette had gotten up early again, rather than that she had never gone to bed. The empty kitchen however quickly confirmed her fears. Emma gently pushed open the door to the living room and sighed at the little picture that greeted her apologetically. Regina lay crumpled on the couch, the pain medication that Emma had set out for her untouched, and the book she had been reading now serving as her pillow. Emma carefully perched herself on the edge of the sofa and eased the book out from underneath the brunette's head, marking the page and setting it aside on the coffee table. She stroked fallen strands of dark hair from the older woman's sleeping face, her fingertips trailing across the slowly healing cut at her hairline. Emma had never wanted to be able to magically heal someone more than she did in this moment. She made a mental note to ask Regina to show her how to do it when this was all over. The woman stirred at Emma's grazing touch and her dark eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," Emma said softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Regina gazed up at Emma through sleep-clouded eyes, a little frown knitting her brows together. Emma suddenly realised that her fingers were still trailing idly through the older woman's soft black hair, and she hastily pulled her hand back. Thankfully, Regina didn't seem to have noticed.

"I fell asleep?" she mumbled, reaching up to rub the sleep from her eyes. A little smile tugged at the corner of Emma's mouth as she watched. The woman looked almost childlike, all innocence and sleepy confusion. It was a side to her that Emma had never seen before, and she liked it.

"Yeah," she said. "And you look like you need it Regina. Have you seriously been down here all night?" Regina pushed herself up with a painful grimace and sat back against the couch next to Emma.

"Would I really have been passed out on the couch, in my cloths no less, rather than in my comfortable and expensive bed if I hadn't?" the brunette said with an attempt at her usually steely tone. The snappy remark however, just sounded lack lustre and tired.

"I guess not," Emma conceded. "You should really get some sleep Regina. You clearly need it and this," Emma made a general sweeping gesture around the room, strewn with books, scrolls and loose pieces of parchment, "this isn't healthy and it certainly isn't helping you heal." Regina looked at her watch, clearly not listening to the blonde and mumbled to herself,

"Seven a.m. Must have only been asleep for an hour and a half at most. Okay." Emma gently turned the brunettes face to her, one palm on her cheek, making her stop and stare at her.

"Regina," Emma said gently. "Listen to me. You need to sleep." Emma looked into the woman's dark eyes, her heart beating hard in her chest, and added in a small voice, "I'm starting to get worried." Regina shook her head and Emma's hand fell.

"I can't," she said determinedly. "I'm pretty sure I found a way that we can track down Madame Medusa. If we leave now we can…"

"No," Emma said, her voice still soft. "If we are going to track Madame Medusa I need you as strong as you can possibly be okay? Not sleep deprived, injured and only half prepared for a fight." Regina opened her mouth as if to argue but Emma stopped her. " _Henry_ needs you as strong as possible," she said, making Regina sigh. "Especially if you are going to be performing magic." The woman looked at her, still seemingly unsure.

"I just want it all to be over," she said.

"I know. Me too," Emma said, a sad smile gracing her lips. "And it will be. But for now, please, just take a nap okay? At least until Henry wakes up. Then we can get my parents to watch him whilst you do the spell, and once we know where she is, we can all form a plan of attack okay? But for now, take these," Emma retrieved the untouched pills and the water, "and get some rest." Regina eyed the pills wearily.

"And you'll wake me as soon as Henry comes downstairs?" Emma smiled.

"The very second." Regina nodded and took the pills from Emma's open hand, downing them with one large gulp of water. She put her head back against the sofa and dared to close her eyes for a moment.

"I don't think I have the energy to get upstairs," she whispered. "Or poof myself up there." Emma chuckled, silently adding "poofing" to her list of things that she would ask Regina to teach her.

"I can make the sofa comfy for you?" Emma suggested with a smile. Regina peeked at Emma through a single half open eye, a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth as she closed it again.

"Are you trying to seduce me Sheriff?"

"Regina I hardly think this is the time or place for that," Emma deadpanned. "Besides, if I _was_ trying to seduce you, you would know it." Emma grinned. She swore she could see the mayor's eyes roll beneath their closed lids. "Seriously," she said when Regina sighed, opening her eyes and making as though to push herself up from the couch. "I think it's about time I repaid the favour anyhow."

"And what favour would that be Miss Swan?" Regina said, lifting a single slender brow.

"Well, you did basically serve as my pillow a couple of nights in a row," Emma chuckled. A single butterfly stirred in the pit of Regina's stomach as Emma smiled warmly and patted her lap. "Come on," she said gently. "I promise I'll wake you when Henry comes down." Medication and physical exhaustion making her eyes itch heavily, Regina simply nodded and carefully eased herself down so that her legs were stretched out along the couch and her head was in the blonde's lap.

"Well you do owe me one," she mumbled, her eyes drifting closed. She heard Emma chuckle, and felt the heavy blanket that usually sat on the back of the couch settle over her shoulders. She let out a relaxed little sigh as a set of fingertips grazed her temples and proceeded idly through her hair, and before she could hear Emma's response, the combined effects of the gentle stroking and the medication lulled her back into a peaceful slumber.

Henry's heavy footfall thumping down the stairs woke Emma with a little jump. She looked down to find Regina still fast asleep in her lap, her breath puffing out rhythmically in the faintest of little snores. Emma smiled to herself, stroking a stray strand of black back from the woman's pale face.

"Hey Mom, what…" Emma turned her head and put a finger to her lips, silencing her son midsentence. "Is Mom okay?" Henry whispered, a little frown shadowing his face as he saw his brunette mother lying fast asleep in his birthmother's lap. Emma forced a smile and nodded.

"She didn't sleep well because of her ribs is all," she lied. "Why don't you go and start on making three cocoas and I'll wake her up and we can all have breakfast okay?" Henry nodded, looking unconvinced, but did as he was told all the same. The kid had enough to worry about at the moment. He didn't need to know his mother seemed dangerously close to collapsing from sheer emotional and physical exhaustion. Emma sighed, looking back down at the sleeping woman in her lap. She wanted to delay waking her for as long as possible. In sleep at least she was protected from it all. But at the end of the day she had made her a promise. She brushed her fingertips down the woman's cheekbone and through her hair, in an attempt to coax her from her slumber as gently as possible. When she didn't respond however Emma chuckled, stroking her cheekbone.

"Regina," she said softly, shaking her shoulder slightly with the other hand. Dark eyes fluttered open and Emma smiled down at her. "Hey there sleeping beauty." Regina scowled.

"Don't call me that," she mumbled, earning a little chuckle from the blonde.

"Okay," she smiled. "How are you feeling? Are your ribs any better?"

"A little," she mumbled. She closed her eyes again briefly, enjoying the other woman's body heat. "I must say Miss Swan, you do make a surprisingly comfortable pillow." Emma couldn't help but smile. She hadn't seen Regina look so relaxed in days, and she wanted to prolong this moment for as long as possible.

"I'm glad," she smiled. "So did you by the way. I'm just glad I could repay the favour." Regina's dark eyes opened again and she stared up at the younger woman, silent questions burning behind soft brown eyes that never quite made it to her tongue.

"Is Henry up?" she asked finally. Emma nodded.

"He's making cocoa for everyone." Regina pushed her self up, grimacing as she did so. Emma grabbed her hand, stopping her from pushing herself off of the couch completely.

"Wait," she said, and the other woman turned to frown at her. "I was going to wait until everything had cooled down to ask you this but I really don't think it can wait."

"What is it?" Regina asked, the frown deepening to knit a tighter crease across her smooth brow.

"I want you to show me how to heal people," Emma said.

"What, right now?" Regina asked incredulously.

"You need healing Regina," Emma said firmly. "If we have to go up against Madame Medusa again we need you at full strength. Last time was far too close for comfort. For a second, I really thought she might…" Emma's sentence trailed off, her eyes shining as they avoided Regina's gaze, and Regina saw the same fear flash across the blonde's face that she had seen just after Snow had saved her.

"Okay," Regina said. "But I'll need to take my shirt off." Emma smirked.

"Really Regina? I mean our son is in the other room!" She mouthed the words in an exaggerated whisper, a playful grin dancing about her face. Regina rolled her eyes.

"Keep dreaming Miss Swan," she deadpanned. She flicked her wrist and suddenly her torso was bare, her shirt and bra held modestly to cover her front.

"Hold your hands to my ribs," she said. But all Emma could do was stare. A large purple and black thundercloud was rolled over the woman's ribs. The yellow and green mottled bruise tapered off around her waist, but traveling up over her ribs the damage had been painted on in a livid purple and black bellow of anger, that showed exactly where and how hard the monster had hit her. Emma was shocked that nothing was broken, and even more shocked at how well Regina had managed to get around for the past couple of days.

"Regina," she whispered, her fingers trailing over the discoloured skin. "I… how…?" Regina turned her head and saw tears glistening in sea green eyes as Emma continued to stare at her ribs.

"Emma dear," she said quietly. The younger woman looked up at her, shock and anguish still stretched across her face. "I need you to focus okay? Or you may make it worse. Think you can do that for me?" Emma nodded, and Regina turned to look ahead of her again. "Place your hands above the wounded area," she said, her voice resuming it's usual matter of fact and business like tone. Her breath hitched slightly as she felt Emma's cold fingers graze her skin. She forced her mind to focus, no matter how hard she tried however she couldn't silence the newly excited fluttering in her stomach.

"Focus on what seeing the wound makes you feel," she said. "Focus on every emotion that touches you when you look at it. Focus on me, then imagine the wound healing." Emma focused. She focussed on the anger she felt towards Madame Medusa, on the fear she had felt when she had thought Regina might die. She focussed on the concern and worry she felt every time she winced. And she focussed on the warmth she felt, not moments ago upon seeing the older woman asleep in her lap, and the little smile that had broken out on her face as her dark eyes had fluttered open. And suddenly all she could think about was that smile, the tiny crinkles at the corners of her glittering sleepy eyes when it had spread across her face and the deep throaty chuckle that accompanied it. Both women let out a little gasp as Emma's hands began to glow white, and a soft tingling sensation spread across Regina's skin. And as Emma saw it in her mind's eye, the bruise began to recede, the cloud breaking up in places as the warm light of Emma's magic shone through like the sun, until all that was left was a tiny yellowing tinge to her skin. Emma ran her palm over the newly healed skin and she heard a poorly concealed sigh escape Regina's lips. Her hand was warm against her cold skin, and she could still feel the soft tingle of magic radiating from it, pleasure crawling across her bare ribs.

"I, I think I did it," Emma said, shock reverberating through her voice.

"You did," Regina smiled. "Consider this the week's lesson." Emma continued to stare at the skin beneath her fingers, until, finally, after a few minutes Regina spoke up, her voice still soft. "If you would care to remove your hand Miss Swan? I should like to get dressed, and I'm sure our son has cocoa waiting."

The two women entered the kitchen in silence, eyes refusing to meet. Henry watched as his mothers sat on the furthest stools from each other, a little frown creasing his brow. Wisely, he decided to keep his mouth shut. Despite the weirdness between his mothers at present, in general things between them had been moving in an intriguing and exciting direction, and the last thing he wanted to do was jeopardise that by pushing them to confront something that neither of them seemed to be ready for.

"Morning Mom," he smiled, setting two mugs of steaming cocoa down in front of the women, his own already half empty in front of him.

"And to what do we owe this little pleasure?" Regina asked him, flashing him a smile. The tiredness behind it however did not go unregistered by her son. _It must just be the wounds keeping her up_ , he thought, pushing his worries roughly to the back of his mind.

"I just felt like cocoa," he shrugged, draining the rest of his mug. "And you always used to make it for me when I was sick or sad, so I thought it might help everyone feel better." Regina smiled sadly at her son.

"Thank you Henry," she said. "That was very thoughtful."

"The kid's a born do-gooder," Emma smiled. "A real Charming."

"And perhaps the only one who lives up to the family name," Regina added in an attempt to maintain her usual levels of sass and snark. Her lack lustre tone was another thing that did not go unnoticed however. It was almost as though she was only really half committed. Emma smiled and rolled her eyes anyway, playing along.

"Yeah yeah," she said. "We know. My dad and I are idiots and the 'un-Charmings.'" Henry grinned, and despite the older woman's weary demeanour the banter seemed to convince him that Regina was at least somewhat as okay as she claimed. Emma however, remained unconvinced. The illusion of happy families however was soon shattered as Henry looked up and asked,

"Any progress on the swamp daemon hunt?" Emma shot a quick questioning glance at the older woman sitting opposite her, silently questioning her as to how much they should be telling him. Regina, to her credit, maintained her perfectly calm porcelain mask as she finished her mouthful, setting down her knife and fork slowly.

"Yes Henry," she said. "I have. I believe I have found a way of tracking her down using the traces of her blood that your grandparents found in the woods."

"That's great," Emma chimed in. "I'll call Mary-Margaret and they can come and watch Henry whilst…"

"That won't be necessary," Regina said, cutting her off midsentence. Mother and son stared confusedly at her, identical frowns puckering their brows. "I shall go with your mother to the trail, collect what I need and bring whatever potion ingredients I need back here to work on the spell. You will stay here with Henry." Emma's frown turned into a deep-set scowl.

"Why don't you want to leave Henry with my parents?" Emma questioned. "If we get Mary-Margaret and David to watch him I can come with you. I may be useful." And she wanted to keep and eye on her.

"No," Regina said shortly. "The last time Henry was left in your father's care he was kidnapped and almost killed purely due to the idiot's inability to keep to a time schedule. I will not make the same mistake twice. You will stay here with Henry, that way I can be sure he will be safe." Henry had sunk low into his seat, looking very much like he would like to melt right into it. Emma on the other hand had to employ every ounce of her self-control to keep her hold on the leash that was only just keeping control over her temper. Though Regina did have a point, she did not appreciate the assault on her father. It wasn't' his fault entirely and the incident certainly didn't mean that he was not to be trusted with the care of his own grandson. That was a little extreme.

"Regina that is hardly…"

"This is not up for discussion Miss Swan," the woman snapped. "Now, kindly call your mother whilst I go and change." And with that Regina pushed herself back from the breakfast bar and disappeared up the stairs, leaving only silence behind her.

"Keep an eye on her okay?" Emma mumbled to her mother as the other brunette busied herself with her list of ingredients that she would need to collect from her vault. Snow frowned.

"Emma is everything okay?" she asked,

"I don't really know," Emma confessed. "I don't think Regina is handling this very well is all." Snow's frown deepened.

"I'll keep a eye on her and we'll talk later okay?" Emma smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Mom." The petite brunette pulled her daughter into a brief hug.

"No problem sweetie."

"This isn't a mother's meeting ladies," Regina said, bustling past Snow as she tucked the list into her pocked. "Let's go Snow." With one last glance at her daughter's frowning face, Snow followed the older woman out of the door.

Emma had been right to ask Snow to keep an eye on the former Queen. It didn't take her long to pick up on the woman's somewhat abnormal behaviour. Snow had always known the woman's perfect mask to be utterly opaque, seamless, and indestructible. She had never before known someone who was so good at projecting a face so totally opposite to what she was feeling. There was a reason it had taken Snow fifteen years to realise the extent of the woman's hatred towards her. For the first time ever, Snow White could see a tiny crack in the pristine porcelain mast that the Evil Queen had worn everyday since Daniel's death. It was subtle, something most people would miss. But the woman had been her stepmother for over a decade, and for most of that time Mary-Margaret had adored her, and had thought she had been close to her. She knew her better than most. Regina exhibited only a little more than her usually excessive amounts of anger, sarcasm and malicious sass that the town had come to expect from her; it was not these tiny excesses that gave her away. They were even within her normal range. No, it was the nervousness. The woman seemed to be surrounded by a nervous energy that clung to her like static electricity gripping onto ones sweater. Regina had never been a nervous woman. She had never appeared scared. And the frantic shine in her eye, accompanied by the ever so slight shaking of her hands, worried Snow.

Regina poofed them first to the clearing by the gorge, which had now been returned to it's usual state, all except for the large pool of blood near the edge, which tapered off into a thin winding little trail before disappearing all together. Snow watched as Regina simply stared at the dark crusted pool of rust, and noticed how her hands flittered briefly to her now clear throat.

"You okay?" she asked cautiously, and the older woman's head snapped round, her hand falling quickly to her side. Regina fixed her with an iron glair before turning back to the crusted pool.

"Of course I am," she snapped. She conjured a small round glass bottle in her hand and bent to scrape some of the rust covered residue into it. "Show me where the trail ends," she said shortly, straightening up again. Snow sighed quietly.

"Follow me." She beckoned to Regina, and headed into the woods.

The trail came to a stop about a kilometre away from the edge of the gorge. The arrow lay on the floor, tip coated in congealed dark red blood, next to one final larger splatter.

"She must have pulled it out and closed the surface of the wound with magic," Regina muttered to herself. She bent down to pick up the arrow in her gloved hand when Snow shifted from one foot to the other, breaking a stick underfoot which cracked the cold silence, making Regina flinch. Mary-Margaret bit back an apology, opting instead to pretend she hadn't noticed. She had never seen the queen so jittery before. She had the horrible feeling Emma was right to be worried about her. But just how worried was yet to be seen.

As soon as Regina and Mary-Margaret had returned home that afternoon Regina had disappeared into her study, shutting the door behind her.

"She find everything she needs?" Emma asked her mother as the two wandered into the kitchen.

"Yeah I think so," Snow said. "But Emma, I think you may have been right to be worried about her."

"Why? What did you notice?" Emma asked quickly. Snow smiled knowingly at her daughter.

"I wouldn't freak out too much just yet," she said. "She just seems very jumpy at the moment. It's not like her. But hopefully once all of this is over and Madame Medusa is gone for good it will pass. Just keep an eye on her in the mean time."

"It's not just the nerves though," Emma said, making her mother frown.

"What do you mean?"

"She hasn't been sleeping," Emma explained. "She spent all night for the past couple of nights putting up extra protection spells or researching and stuff." Snow frowned, looking thoughtfully at her hands.

"It's just because of this whole Madame Medusa thing," she said. "Hopefully by the end of tomorrow it will all be sorted and she won't have a reason to be so jumpy." Snow gave her best attempt at a reassuring smile and leaned across the countertop to give her daughter's hand a little squeeze. She looked at her daughter and the frown across her brow smoothed over just a touch. She could see the concern brimming in her green eyes, see the way she fidgeted with her sleeve every time she said Regina's name and the way her eyes leapt up when she had thought that something might be wrong. "You really care about Regina don't you?" she asked softly. Emma pulled her hand back and tugged at the sleeves.

"She's my kid's other mother," she offered half-heartedly, and Snow smiled a little.

"That's not what I mean honey." Emma looked up at her.

"It's complicated Mom," she said in a small voice. "To be honest I don't really know what is going on for us at the moment. But I am worried about her."

"She'll be okay. You'll see."

Snow stayed and helped her daughter make dinner for all of them seeing as Regina was still shut up in her study. When it was ready however, and Emma had poked her head around the door to inform her so, she had merely been waved away by the woman who had had her head bent over a number of gently smoking vials. And when at last Mary-Margaret and David had left around nine, Regina still had not emerged from her office.

"You think Mom will watch a movie with us?" Henry asked hopefully.

"I'll go ask but she is still pretty hard at work on this spell and stuff." Henry's face fell and Emma's heart constricted in her chest. "But it never hurts to ask right?" she tried hopefully, earning a half-hearted smile from her son. "Go pick out a movie okay. I'll be right there." Henry nodded, padding off in the direction of the lounge and Emma sighed.

She knocked quietly on the door to Regina's study and waited in silence for a few moments. Despite the lack of an answer, she gently pushed the door open and was greeted in much the same way as she had been earlier, only this time the brunette was hunched over a town map, a blood red crystal swinging from a string which was suspended it above the squiggling lines that traced out their little town.

"Hey," Emma said softly. Despite her quiet voice, Regina flinched. "So, the kid wants to watch a movie and he was hoping that maybe you would join us." Emma said hopefully, trying her hardest to keep her voice light.

"I can't," Regina said matter-of-factly. "I am too close to finishing this. If I do it now we can track her down first thing in the morning."

"Okay," Emma sighed. "Come find us when you finish okay?" Regina gave a non-committal nod, not looking up from her map and once again shooed Emma out with a brief and dismissive wave.

Not surprisingly, Regina never appeared from her office. Both Emma and Henry were distracted throughout, and once it was finished Henry mumbled a quiet goodnight before trudging up the stairs and out of sight, staring at his feet the entire time. Emma heaved a great sigh and gently pushed open the door to Regina's study, where she knew the brunette was still at work, planning on one last attempt to coax her out and back into the real world before bed. The sight that greeted her however was not the one she had expected; however it was not a surprising one either. Regina's head lay on the map, the crystal discarded besides her hand. On the map a number of crosses had been drawn in red and linked so that they showed a central crossing point, which the woman had circled. Emma guessed that this was their spot. She had to give the woman credit; no one Emma had ever met could rival her work ethic. She supposed that, aside from the whole, previously being evil thing, it was one of the reason's that Regina was, in fact, a very good mayor. Not wanting to wake the unconscious woman, Emma waved her hand over her, casting a featherweight charm (not that she thought she would need it but she didn't want to take her chances jostling her about lifting her from the chair) and then easily scooped the petite brunette up into her arms. She looked down at Regina's peacefully sleeping face and chuckled to herself.

"If you were even slightly awake right now you would kill me for this," Emma whispered, grinning to herself. "But I kinda like it." Thankfully, the duvet on master bed was already pulled back, seeing as the last people to sleep in it where she and Henry, and neither of them had bothered to make the bed. Emma laid the sleeping Queen in her bed and pulled the comforter up over her. She sat, stroking dark hair from her face and simply watched her for a few minutes, enjoying the relaxed expression on her tired face. It was something she had missed recently. Little butterflies stirred nervously in her stomach and Emma sighed.

"What am I going to do with you?" she mumbled to herself. "You're starting to worry me Regina," she whispered. "You're really starting to worry me."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The plan was not a complicated one. Regina's track on Madame Medusa had given them an exact location that they could track her to, making it easy to find and capture her. The crystal that Regina had used to locate her would lead them straight to her location, almost like a magical GPS. Although Regina suspected that she may have been able to close the surface damage caused by Snow's arrow, she doubted there was much more than that which she would have been capable of in her condition. Hopefully, it would be a relatively easy battle.

Regina's plan was clear in her mind. It was simple. She would find her, and she would kill her. Then, finally, perhaps this would all be over. And there was nothing that anyone could say to change her mind on the matter. But that hadn't stopped them from trying.

"Can't we just lock her up?" Mary-Margaret asked for what seemed like the one-hundredth time. "It will be safe. We can _make_ it safe. We can put her bellow the library where you kept Maleficent and…"

"No!" Regina snapped. "Have you truly not been listening to anything that I have been saying? Or are you just as stubbornly dim-witted as your not so charming husband? She is magical, and in possession of a kind of magic that I, nor anyone else in this town, is an expert on. There is nowhere in Storybrook that we can hold her. Our only option, the _only_ way to make sure Henry is safe, is to get rid of her for good. I know it's not pretty and it's messy but it has to be done."

"What if we strip her of her magic?" David asked.

"And how do you propose we do that? That kind of spell takes days, weeks even to cook up. We have to act _now_."

"The cuff," Emma said. "The one Mendell used on you. Do you still have it?"

"It's locked up in my vault. And whilst it's possible that it may work, we have now way to be sure. That would be a huge risk to take."

"Why don't we just take it with us? If it works we take her captive. If not," Emma sighed and looked apologetically at her parents. "We take her out."

"Fine," Regina huffed. She opened her palm and the leather cuff appeared on the flat of her hand. She shoved it into her pocked, glaring at the occupants of her kitchen. "But if this doesn't work, or I think for even a second that it may falter, I'm taking her out." The others all nodded silently.

"Are you sure you don't need any extra help?" Snow asked. "Regina you were almost killed last time."

"We've got this Mom," Emma said quietly. "It's two of us v. one of her, weakened at that and without her crocodiles to protect her. Besides, we need you guys to watch Henry okay?" Mary-Margaret sighed and shared a worried glance with her husband before finally conceding defeat.

"Okay," she said. "Okay. But please, please be careful." Emma hugged her parents quickly as she heard Regina clack over to the front door.

"Today, Miss Swan. Or at least before the lizard moves again."

"Make sure you both come back okay, you hear me?" David whispered. Emma nodded, and with that she grabbed her jacket and left.

The crystal led the two women through the woods back towards the gorge, where dark crusted blood still spattered the rocks. They followed the winding little path that led them down through the rocks and the trees towards the creek at the bottom, where the shallow gurgling water cut it's way through the stone. Emma watched Regina closely the entire way, watching her for signs of lingering physical weakness, fatigue, or hesitation. But she saw none. The Queen had fixed her perfect porcelain mask of ferocious beauty and unstoppable rage and strength in place. Emma could see steal behind her eyes, and the rampaging fire of a mother who had had her family, her son, everything she held dear and everything that mattered, threatened one too many times. She had never seen the woman look more dangerous. And it both terrified and amazed her. After about half an hour of stumbling over boulders and trudging through the undergrowth they came upon the entrance to a small cave. The crystal spun out of Regina's hand and shot into the tunnel, swallowed by the darkness.

"Looks like we're going in," Emma mumbled.

"Good," the Queen growled. "She'll have no where to run." A fireball appeared in Regina's hand and, holding it aloft, she followed the crystal into the black.

The darkness seemed to wrap itself around them, like long arms covering you in a thick cold blanket of black that stifled their footsteps as they moved through the chill tunnel, the path ahead barely visible in the light produced by Regina's fireball. Water dripped from the walls and ceilings, splashing noisily into little puddles, the sound ricocheting around the tunnel in hurried little whispers that made the hairs on Emma's arms and neck stand to attention. As they came to a sharp corner the crystal dropped to the floor and Regina held up her hand, halting Emma in her tracks. A dim greenish light seeped around the corner, and Regina snuffed out her fireball, putting a finger to her lips, and they both fell silent, listening. A jagged, rasping breathing could be heard; it seemed to slither around the rocky corner and fill every crevice, every crack and corner of the space in the tunnel like an invading gas, until the sound of the raged laboured breaths seemed to be suffocating them both. A little tumbling of pebbled and a sharp hiss of pain told them that she had moved, and Emma shifted uneasily from foot to foot.

"Are you just going to stand there ladies, or are you going to come in and say hello?" a broken voice croaked out. Emma and Regina stepped around the corner into the dim light and the sight that greeted them made both women freeze. The reptile like woman looked utterly broken. The trip down to the cave clearly hadn't been made by magic, and had only served to damage her further. Emma couldn't help but think she closely resembled a dogs chew toy, torn and shredded, only to be thrown haphazardly in the corner once the animal was bored with her. Her fingers were stripped raw and bloody, nails broken off at peculiar angles and in odd places from where she had clearly had to haul her tattered body through the undergrowth and over the rocks in the creek. Little cuts and grazes latticed her jaundiced skin, and her back was mottled black and grey and purple around the poorly closed arrow wound, where the flesh underneath was clearly still bleeding.

"Pretty isn't it?" Madame Medusa hissed, a sickly smile stretching across her sallow face. "So my dears, you've taken my children from me, you've taken my revenge from me, and now I suppose you have come to take my life from me also."

"Not entirely," Regina grinned, taking the cuff from her pocket. "But we have come to take your freedom." The cuff disappeared from Regina's hand in a puff of purple smoke and wrapped itself snuggly around Madame Medusa's wrist. The scaly demon simply chuckled darkly however; the tort grin stretching itself even further across her skin to reveal long unnaturally pointed teeth.

"You really think I need magic to come after your precious little Prince?" she spat. The witch cackled, a low mirthless gurgle that promptly lid into a violent coughing fit that echoed loudly around the empty chamber, bounding off of the walls and around their heads. "I'll keep coming for him," she hissed. "I'll hunt him like a dog with a fox. So long as I breathe he'll _never_ be safe. I won't stop until his heart is dust in my hand!" Regina let out an enraged roar and lunged for the crumpled reptile. The woman was thrown up against the wall, her throat magically pinned by Regina's invisible hand to the sharp rocks behind her, so that the cackle that bubbled from her mouth was stiff and horse. But something was off. Emma could see it. There was no fire behind her words, no spark in her muted eyes. She was bluffing, and this was her suicide.

"Regina no!" Emma yelled, running forwards to the pair. "She's bluffing Regina. She just wants you to kill her."

"Do it," Madame Medusa hissed. "Just take my heart and squeeze."

"She's bluffing Regina she won't be able to hurt him if we lock her up. If you kill her now it will be murder. You've come so far please, please don't let her pull you back Regina." Emma took Regina by the shoulders, stepping in-between the two in an attempt to draw Regina's gaze away and break her focus. But dark eyes simply stared straight past her, never wavering from their target.

"Don't give her what she wants," Emma pleaded.

"Do it," the reptile hissed, her snake like tongue slithering out from between her teeth as she spoke, as if to taunt her, to dare her to do it. Regina's eyes flickered to meet Emma's, and for a split second, her mask cracked, and Emma could see through the anger. But before Regina could lower her hand the leather cuff around Madame Medusa's wrist seemed to smoulder, and it fell in ashes from her wrist. Regina's hand was plunged elbow deep into the woman's chest, directly above her heart.

"Regina!" Emma shouted. "What…?!"

"It's not me!" Regina yelled, panic creeping into her voice as she attempted in vain to pull her hand from the woman's chest cavity.

"Oh, but technically it is," Madame Medusa grinned. Regina felt her fingers wrap themselves around an unusually cold slick heart; she could feel it beating in her hand, pulsating sickeningly in her palm. She had taken so many hearts she had lost count, but never, never had she been forced to do so against her own will. Her arm lurched roughly from the woman's body and the heart sat, bloody in her palm, glowing a dark greenish black as it beat sluggishly on. She could feel her fingertips begin got squeeze.

"Remember this," Madame Medusa grinned at her. Regina let out a startled cry , shutting her eyes as her hand snapped shut and she felt dust run through her fingers. She heard the body thud to the floor and suddenly every muscle in her seemed to go limp.

"Regina!" Emma's strong arms wrapped themselves around her before she could hit the floor. Regina clung to her, burring her face in the saviours shoulder.

"I didn't… I couldn't…" she stammered.

"I know," Emma said. "I know."

Regina watched as dark blood swirled down toward the plughole, scarring the white ceramic basin as it travelled. It was everywhere. It was under her nails, gouged into the cracks of her knuckles, stalking the lines of her palm. It seemed to spot and shout at every pore on the back of her hand, dye every hair. Her white shirtsleeve was coated in it, and her jacket was ruined. Red. There was red everywhere. It was all she could see. And she could still feel it; still feel the cold flesh beneath her fingers, the way the blood oozed under her nails, how sticky it felt. Then there was the dust. It made her hand feel gritty. It was stuck under her nails, mingling rudely with the blood making it look like it was rusting. She had someone else's heart under her nails. Regina grabbed the soap and started scrubbing. More blood spiralled down the sink. She scrubbed harder and harder and harder until the walls of the basin were stained brown with blood and dust and finally the water ran clear. But she still didn't stop scrubbing. It wasn't enough. She could still fee it, still feel the cold wet flesh against her fingers.

"Damn it!" she yelled, hurling the soap away from her.

"I's Mom okay?" Henry asked quietly, looking up at Emma and his grandparents.

"Of course kid," Emma said, trying her hardest to stretch a smile across her face. "She just needs to rest."

"Which is why you're going to come with us for a couple of nights okay buddy?" David smiled. Henry nodded and looked from his grandfather to his blonde mother, who pulled him into a one armed hug and planted a kiss on the top of his head.

"She'll be fine after a couple of days to rest up, okay kid?

"Promise?" Emma's smile faltered for a split second, but she managed to catch it before it fell completely

"Yeah," she mumbled. " 'Course."

"Go out to the car with your grandfather sweetie. I'll be right there," Mary-Margaret said with an attempt at a smile. Henry merely nodded, and followed David silently out to the truck, his head hung low, his rucksack dragging along the floor behind him. Snow pulled her daughter into a tight hug.

"Call if you need anything okay?" Emma nodded.

"Will do." Snow pulled back and tried again for a smile.

"She'll be okay. She's probably just exhausted and in shock." Emma nodded again.

"I should go and check on her. I'll text you later okay?"

"Okay."

Emma closed the door behind her mother when a muffled cursing, followed by a loud bang echoed through the house.

Regina scrubbed. Under her nails, over her knuckles, over her palm and the back of her hand. It stung, the bristles of the nailbrush having rubbed her skin red and raw, but it still didn't feel clean. She could still see the blood, still smell it, still feel it. It would never go away. It was etched into her hands, injected under her skin, engrained in her pores. And suddenly she could see it all, the blood of every heart she had ever pulled, coating her hands like slick red gloves.

Regina flinched as he felt a pair of hands take her shoulders and she gasped, dropping the nailbrush to the ground.

"I'm sorry," Emma said quietly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Regina looked back down at her red hand, her eyes glassy and unfocused.

"I can't get it clean," she murmured. "I can't get the blood off." Emma took Regina's hands in her own, and the woman continued to stare.

"There's nothing there Regina," the blonde said softly. "Look at me." But she didn't. "Regina, please will you look at me?" Slowly, a pair of sparkling black eyes raised themselves to meet Emma's. "They're clean, okay? There is nothing there."

"But I can still smell it," Regina whispered. "I can still feel it Emma." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.

"Regina, honey you're in shock." Emma didn't know where the term of endearment came from, and under usual circumstances she was sure Regina would never have allowed it. But right now she didn't care. Right now it felt right. Emma sighed as the woman looked back down at her hands. She reached over to the sink and pumped some of Regina's hand cream into her palm, and the faint smell of lavender filled her nose.

"Here," she said, gently taking Regina's hands and rubbing the hand cream into them. "This will help with the smell." Regina nodded, not taking her eyes from her hands. "Come on," Emma said, putting an arm around the older woman's shoulders. "Let's get you to bed okay? You'll feel better in the morning." Regina simply nodded, and allowed herself to be steered out of her bathroom and towards her bed. Emma sat the brunette down on the edge of he king sized bed and started rummaging through the woman's draws, looking for her pyjamas. Finally, after much searching and messing up of the woman's freakishly neat draws, she found a pair of grey silk pyjamas.

"Honey, I need you to give me a hand and stand up," she said, and Regina did as she asked. She allowed Emma to strip her down to her underwear, which Emma decided to leave on owing to the fact that she didn't want the woman to incinerate her once she regained her senses, and then pull on the bottoms and buttoned up the top. She climbed into the bed and as Emma went to pull up the covers she grabbed her hand, and broken brown eyes looked up at her. She didn't even need to speak. Emma smiled softly at her and gently removed her grip so that she could pad over to the other side of the bed and climb in next to her. She pulled the petite woman into her arms and wrapped her in a strong protective embrace.

"I wasn't going to do it," Regina whispered, her voice cracked and shaking. "I wasn't… I had no control… I couldn't…"

"I know," Emma murmured, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "I know baby." And then the woman broke. And she cried. And Emma held her. And finally, after what seemed like hours, the pair fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Emma woke with Regina still in her arms. The brunette's fist was closed tightly around Emma's tank top, like a child clinging to a parent, a little frown puckering her smooth brow. The woman looked so small in her embrace, so delicate. Emma was almost afraid that if she held her too tightly she would break, that she'd crack like glass and crumble into dust beneath her arms. The thought made the blonde's heart quicken frantically, and her arms stiffened unconsciously, holding the slight woman protectively to her. Emma had rarely seen a person look so vulnerable, so broken. It reminded her of being in foster care. When Emma had been sixteen, just before she had run away, a girl her age had come into the group home. Her first night she had woken up screaming, waking the whole dorm in the process. Only Emma had been able to calm her, and every night after that they had held each other as they slept, years of abuse relived every night in nightmares making both girls afraid to be alone. She had clung to her, just as Regina did now. Emma had never met anyone who had been so damaged, who had appeared so small, until now any way. She had never thought that Regina was capable of breaking. She always appeared so strong, so formidable. It was only recently, since they had really started to get to know each other better because of the time spent together during their magic lessons, that she had started to see how battle worn her armour really was. It was cracked, and dented and worn thin from years of fighting and battling and being used and abused. It seemed that this had been the final blow for her; the sword that had finally pierced her worn out breastplate. And Emma had no idea what she was supposed to do about it, no idea how she was supposed to fix her.

Time seemed to float by unnoticed as Emma lay with Regina in her arms, the older woman sleeping soundly on as her saviour watched over her. She was content to watch her, content to see the way that her long lashes almost brushed her smooth cheeks, the way that her pink lips had fallen ever so slightly apart, her breath coming out in tiny little puffs. She almost seemed to snore a little, and Emma couldn't help but chuckle when she noticed it. It was almost imperceptible, just the tiniest of noises, but it made Emma smile. She knew Regina would kill her if she said anything, and deny it so fiercely it would probably leave Emma fearing for her life. But it was kind of perfect, and it made Emma smile. When at last Emma did look at her watch she was surprised to see how late it was. She had never expected the mayor to be the kind of person to sleep past midday. She had no idea what time she had woken up, nor what time they had fallen asleep. Very carefully, and very, very slowly, Emma eased herself out from under the sleeping brunette and grabbing her mobile phone, she left her to sleep, leaving the bedroom door open just in case. Given how worried Regina had been about Henry's safety over the past few days and how much she disliked Emma's father at the moment, Emma thought it might perhaps be best if the woman did not wake to find her son missing from the house and in the care of the Charmings. She also had a number of texts from both her son and her mother asking after both of them. And as much as she didn't want Henry to have to see his mother like this, and as much as she wanted to protect him from whatever may come, she knew that she couldn't keep the kid away from his Mom. And any way, Regina could wake up today and be totally fine, refreshed from a good long sleep and be back to her usual sarcastic self. Right? But given everything Emma had seen last night, she didn't think that was likely. She texted Henry first, carefully avoiding answering his questions as to whether Regina was okay or not, telling him that, yes, he could come home today as soon as he liked, but to be mindful that his Mom still needed rest and a bit of relaxation. Then she texted her mother.

" _Not sure how she's doing. She's still asleep. Last night was pretty bad though. :/"_

Her mother's reply was instant.

" _You sure Henry should be home them?"_

 _"Yeah. She'll freak out if he isn't here when she wakes up. Oh and can you get the kid to bring some more cloths with him? Think I'm gonna stay for a few more days."_

There was a little pause this time.

 _"Okay. If you think it's what's best."_

 _"Thnx"_

Henry arrived not half an hour later, bounding through the front door to throw his arms around his mother. Emma grinned, hugging him back, and then put a finger to her lips.

"Not so much noise okay? Your Mom's still sleeping." Henry's eyes widened.

"I don't think she's ever slept this late in her life," he gaped.

"Yeah well, it was pretty intense last night and the last few days have been kinda insane. I recon she needs to catch up is all." Henry nodded, still looking a little unsure.

"Yeah, I guess," he said thoughtfully.

"Go put your bag away okay? I'll be there in a sec I just need to talk to Mary-Margaret." Henry nodded and did as he was told, disappearing quietly up the stairs.

"How was she last night?" Mary-Margaret asked quietly once Henry was out of earshot. Emma sighed heavily and leant against the doorframe.

"Not good," she said. "She was in massive shock. We'll see how she is when she wakes up, but last night was brutal Mom. I don't know if it's going to be as simple as needing a decent night's sleep and a bit of R and R."

"Just, take it one step at a time. You never now, she may be fine. She's strong Emma,=" Snow smiled.

"But you can only be strong for so long."

With Henry home Emma decided that the best thing to do, at least until they knew otherwise, was to work under the impression that Regina was indeed okay. Other than not wanting to worry the kid, Emma knew that treating Regina like glass would only anger her, and the last thing Emma wanted to do was give the brunette cause to retreat from her. She decided that the best thing to do would be to wake the woman so that they could spend what Emma hoped would be a relaxed Sunday afternoon together as a family.

When Emma quietly eased open the door to the master bedroom she found the still sleeping brunette curled up under the comforter, a tiny frown puckering her otherwise smooth face, the sheets balled up in her fists. Emma perched herself on the edge of the bed and gently pulled the covers away from the woman's face. She brushed back black from the softly scowling face, her fingertips combing lightly through her silken hair, and the lines seemed to slide from her face as an almost inaudible sigh escaped her every so slightly parted lips. Emma chuckled to herself as she watched the unconscious woman relax into her touch.

"Regina," she said softly, giving the woman's shoulder a gentle shake in an attempt to rouse her. The woman mumbled, stirring, but merely shuffled an inch or two closer to the blonde before settling again, making Emma chuckle again.

"Regina," she tried again. "Time to wake up honey." She gave Regina's shoulder another little shake and this time dark brown eyes snapped open and the woman woke with a start. She flinched back, eyes darting frantically around the room.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's just me," Emma cooed softly. "It's just me honey." Regina's eyes softened as they found Emma's and she relaxed, her halted breath coming out in a little puff of relief as she closed her eyes again. "I'm sorry," Emma said, resuming the combing of Regina's hair once again. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay," Regina mumbled, letting out a controlled sigh and looking back up at Emma.

"Bad dream?" Dark brown eyes dropped.

"I'm not really sure," Regina grumbled. "I don't really remember."

"That's okay," Emma smiled. "Even if it was, it's over now anyhow." Regina nodded thoughtfully, staring unseeingly at the sheets in front of her as a comfortable silence settled over the two. Emma watched her, her fingers continuing to toy with black hair as dark eye drifted to fix themselves on her right hand. Seeing this, Emma cleared her throat, recapturing the brunette's attention.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asked. Regina studied her for a moment, brows knitting themselves back into that little frown.

"Tired," she said. "What time is it?" Emma smirked.

"Like, two o'clock in the afternoon." She chuckled seeing the woman's black brows tie themselves together in a firm scowl. "It's okay," she said. "It's not surprising that you're somewhat sleep deprived after the past week or so. You needed to catch up. Probably still do."

"I should get up or Henry will be worried. I've never slept so late in my life."

"Yeah, he said the same thing," the blonde smiled. Regina pushed herself up into a sitting position, her eyes flickering towards her right hand. Emma covered it wither her own and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Get changed into something comfy," she smiled. "And I'll have a coffee and some lunch waiting for you downstairs okay?" Regina looked up and forced a tiny smile.

"Okay."

Henry watched in silence for a minute or two, his head cocked slightly to one side. What was she doing? She was just standing there, scowl on her face, hands on her hips in that "Saviour"-esque pose. She looked like she was trying to figure out how to conquer the contents of the fridge.

"Ma," Henry said, making his blonde mother jump a little. She turned around, closing the fridge door. "What are you doing?" Henry asked, moving into the kitchen and jumping up onto a stool.

"I said I'd make your Mom lunch, and then I realised that I have no idea what she might like, and even if I did I probably don't have the culinary skills to make it." Henry laughed at his sheepishly grinning mother, who in turn swatted playfully at him. "Not helping kid!"

"Okay, okay!" Henry laughed, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "She always makes soup when I'm sick," he said, and the grin slid from Emma's face.

"Kid, she's not sick she's just…"

"Yeah, I know," Henry said, as Emma's sentence slipped into nothingness, because the truth was, she didn't know what was going on at the moment. "But she isn't, normal. She isn't herself, is she?" Emma sighed and looked down at her hands, refusing to meet her son's worried gaze.

"No she isn't kid."

"What happened Mom? Please, you have to tell me the truth. Is Mom okay?" Henry's eyes shone, flooded with concerned tears that he was holding hostage in an attempt to remain brave and stoic. Emma sighed and moved around the counter to sit next to him, slinging an arm over his shoulders and pulling him closer.

"She will be kid. With us to look after her, and a bit of time stress free, she will be. We just have to look after her for a while, okay?" Henry nodded and Emma hugged him tight for a moment. Henry pulled back, staring resolutely at his hands, and mumbled,

"She'll like the soup. I think she always keeps some in the freezer." Emma nodded.

"Okay. If you think that would be a nice idea."

They remained silent whilst Emma warmed the soup and made coffee, waiting for Regina to appear. The avoided each other's gaze, Henry looking at his hands, Emma's eyes fixed intently on the coffee machine in front of her. Silence hung suspended over them both; it seemed the preferable option, rather than inconsequential small talk that would only serve as an ineffective distraction to their wandering minds. Because neither of them really knew what to say, because neither of them knew what was happening, or would happen.

"My, my, aren't we unusually quiet today." They both turned to see Regina in the doorway, dressed in a pair of black leggings and a purple cord knit jumper. Her hair was tied back in a loose pony-tale, and her face held only the lightest and simplest of make-up. Emma had never seen her look so dressed down before. She looked beautiful.

"Mom!" Henry leapt from his stool at the breakfast bar and ran to his dark haired mother, throwing his arms around her waist.

"What was that for sweetheart?" Regina asked, looking down at her son with a confused little smile on her face. Henry just shrugged, and Regina managed a soft little chuckle before leading him back over to the counter where Emma placed the coffee and soup in front of her. If Emma hadn't known better, Regina almost could have fooled her into thinking very little was wrong.

"Thank you Emma," Regina said softly, taking the mug in her hands. Her right hand, Emma noticed, was red, and raw, as though it had been scrubbed with a nailbrush. Emma swallowed thickly, then forced a smile, and tried to make her voice sound natural.

"No problem." She watched for a few minutes as the woman sipped at her coffee, her soup remaining virtually untouched, but she said nothing.

"So," Henry said suddenly, grabbing at both women's attention. "Can I go back to school tomorrow?" Emma's eyebrows shot up into two little surprised arcs and Regina's breath hitched, causing her to inhale a mouthful of coffee. Once she was finished coughing and spluttering, and could once again breath clearly, the two women stared at their son, who had sunk slightly into his chair.

"You really think you're ready kid?" Emma asked. "There is not shame in taking a couple of extra days off. Especially as your grandmother is your teacher." Henry shook his head and looked from one mother to the other. Regina was silent.

"I don't want to stay at home," he said, "And besides, it's all over now right? I mean, she's really dead this time isn't she?" Regina stiffened slightly, her right hand clenching around the mug, making her knuckles go white, though thankfully Henry hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, of course she is," Emma said quickly. "But don't feel like you have to go back right away kid. There's no pressure."

"I know," Henry said. "But I want to."

"We'll drive you," Regina said suddenly. "And we'll pick you up." Mother and son looked carefully at Regina, but both knew better than to argue. That tone said that this clearly wasn't up for discussion.

"Uh, okay," he said. "Thanks."

"You know," Emma said slowly, breaking the silence that had enclosed the lounge since Henry had gone to bed. "We don't need to drive Henry to school. I can take him to the bus and…"

"No." Regina was staring at her hand again, a tiny frown creasing her brow. "No," she said again. "We're driving him." Emma let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

"Regina, it's over. You know that right? We don't have to watch his every move any more." She didn't look up, only continued to scowl at her hand. Her eyes were glassy, frosted over with thought like a window after the first cold night of winter. Emma could see the thoughts, the fears, the 'what if's swimming around her mind, pushing out reason and logic, like a noxious gas pushing out the clean air from a room.

"We thought she was dead the first time," Regina whispered.

"Regina…"

"We're driving him," Regina said sharply, eyes snapping up to the blonde. "This is not up for discussion Miss Swan." Emma scowled at the title and looked down at her hands.

"Please don't 'Miss Swan' me Regina," she said quietly. "I thought we were past all that." The frost in Regina's eyes melted and the woman sighed, taking hold of Emma's hands.

"I'm sorry," she said. "We are. It's just…" Her sentence trailed off, evaporating before them and Emma forced a smile.

"We can drive him," she conceded.

"I know it's silly," Regina began, her voice small and apologetic. "But…"

"It's okay," Emma said. "You don't have to explain anything to me. I get it believe me." Regina gave a small, sorry smile.

"Thank you Emma."


	12. Chapter 12

_The vast scaly monsters were circling them, circling Emma and Henry as they snarled and snapped at their ankles. Henry was crying, tears running down his grubby face, and Emma was sobbing, her hands tied behind her back. Regina tried to run to them, but someone caught her arm, and suddenly she was too small, too weak to twist free of her mother's grasp._

 _"You couldn't protect them even if you wanted to Regina," her mother cackled. "Having you in their life will only bring them pain." The two monstrous beasts lunged and suddenly Emma and Henry vanished._

 _"What happened?" Regina cried, looking up at her mother. Her voice was small, childlike, and trembling with fear._

 _"They got away my darling," Cora grinned. "Ran away from you, the Evil Queen, because they were too afraid to be around you."_

 _"But I love them," Regina whimpered in her small girlish voice. Cora twisted her arm painfully and roughly shoved her away from her._

 _"Foolish child! Haven't I told you before? Love is weakness." Regina was crying now as her mother loomed over her, her cold shadow enveloping her in a chill shroud of fear. "No one should ever love you Regina. Your love gets people killed. Look at Daniel, your father, me, even Graham, and we all know you didn't really love him."_

 _"I can protect them," Regina whispered. Cora threw her head back and laughed._

 _"And who, my dear, will protect them from you?" Emma and Henry reappeared, lying face down in the mud, motionless. Regina scrambled to her feet, tripping over her skirts as she ran to them, but her tiny fragile child's form was too weak to pull them over. Her hands slipped from their cloths, slick and wet with dark blood. She stood. She screamed._

Emma leapt from her bed, snatching up her gun and followed the terrified cry across the hall towards the master bedroom. She kicked open the door with her gun raised, and was greeted only by the dark empty room. Another strangled cry from the bed drew her attention and Emma rushed to the woman's side, flipping on the safety and discarded her gun on the vacant chaise lounge by the fireplace as she did so. The woman was clearly in the grip of an excruciating nightmare. Regina was tangled tightly in her sheets, fists clenching a pillow to her as she sobbed.

"Wh…what's going on?" Emma turned to see Henry standing in the doorway, his knees shaking as he stared, frowning at his sobbing mother.

"She's having a nightmare kid," Emma said, rushing over to swiftly usher Henry out of the room. He didn't need to see this, and Emma was sure that Regina wouldn't want him to. "She'll be okay. I'll look after her I promise."

"Like she did for you the other week?" he asked, his voice small and shaking.

"Exactly like that," Emma smiled. "Now go back to bed kiddo. I've got this." She gave him a quick kiss as she heard Regina whimper again and rushed back into the master bedroom, leaving Henry to turn hesitantly back towards his room.

Emma shut the bedroom door behind her and hurried over to Regina's bed. She sat besides her and just as she reached out to shake the woman awake she let out a startled cry. Dark eyes snapped open and she shot upright, roughly pushing the sheets from her as though to rid herself from something smothering her.

"It's okay," Emma said, grasping her shoulder firmly. "It's okay. Regina you were just dreaming." The brunette found her gaze and stared at her, confusion clouding her dark eyes.

"But…I …you were…" Her gaze shot to the door. "Where's Henry?!" Emma took Regina's face between her hands, forcing her attention back to her.

"He's in his room Regina," she said slowly and clearly. "Everyone's okay honey. Everyone is safe." Regina looked at her, her eyes still clouded with confusion and terror. Every muscle seemed to tremble.

"But, you were both… And I… my hands, they were soaked…" She looked down at her hands as her sentence trailed off, which were lying limply in her lap. Emma pulled away for a moment, switching on the bedside lamp. The room was filled with soft yellow light, which illuminated the tear tracks that scarred the brunette's distraught face. She took hold of the woman's hands and gently lifted them up into the light.

"They're clean," she said softly. "It was just a dream honey." Regina stared at them, and then back at Emma.

"Just a dream?" Emma nodded, offering a sad little smile. "And you're okay? Henry's okay?"

"Everyone's okay Regina." The older woman's bottom lip began to tremble, and fresh tears leaked from the corners of her glistening eyes. Emma pulled the woman into her arms and held her close as she cried. She guided them down to the pillows and pulled the blankets up around them. Regina clung to her as she cried, Emma all the while running her fingers through her dark hair, murmuring soft words of comfort in her ear. She couldn't tell how long it took for Regina's sobs to calm, and turn into the occasional sniffle or hiccup. Emma reached over to switch off the lamp, and felt Regina's grip on her tighten.

"Please don't leave," she whispered. Emma hugged the small woman to her, and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"Never."

When Regina woke the next morning it was to find Emma gazing down at her, an incomprehensible whirlpool of emotions swirling around in her green eyes. A tiny content sigh escaped her lips as Emma's fingers grazed her temples and brushed lightly back through her hair. She heard the blonde chuckle lightly and she scowled, only making Emma laugh again.

"Why are you laughing at me?" she grumbled sleepily, still not conscious enough to remove herself from the blonde's arms, or even want to.

"You're cute," Emma said. Regina could practically hear the smile in her voice. "When you're all sleepy and grouchy, you're cute." Regina peered up at the blonde through a single half open eye.

"Take it back."

"Nope," Emma grinned. "No way. It's the truth."

"I'm not cute," Regina said flatly. "So take it back. That's an order from your Queen." Emma grinned down at her.

"But my Queen is so cute snuggled up to me all sleepy and grumpy. If you could see yourself you would agree." Her words seemed to wake Regina up somewhat, her eyes snapping open as she realised the somewhat compromising position she was in. Her cheeks felt warm as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, and the smile slid from the saviours face.

"Oh, no Regina I didn't mean that you had to… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It was an inappropriate position to be in," Regina mumbled, her eyes fixed on her lightly clasped hands.

"No," Emma said softly. "It wasn't, and it's okay. Remember when I said that if it had been you that had been poisoned by the dream vine, I would have been there to look after you like you did for me? I meant it." Regina looked up at her nervously. "Consider last night kinda like, I dunno, repayment for the dream vine thing. And before you say anything," Emma said, silencing Regina's interruption before it could even leave her mouth. "I did _not_ feel obliged to do it. I am _not_ just going to up and leave now that we are even, and I am happy to be here for you. I _want_ to be here." Regina's mouth shut and she simply gazed at Emma. The ghost of a smile shadowed her lips.

"Thank you." Emma smiled.

"Any time. And I mean that." She studied the dark haired woman for a moment, saw the shadows under her eyes, the slight trembling of her hands. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively. "About the nightmare?" The shutters fell, clanging loudly shut over Regina's expression as her eyes hardened.

"No," she said, pulling the covers aside and swinging her legs out of bed.

"It might help," Emma offered. "To share, I mean."

"I said no," Regina snapped. "Now if you don't mind I need to get dressed. Henry will be wanting breakfast before we drive him to school."

"Regina-"

"And I suggest you hurry up and get dressed yourself Miss Swan," Regina said tersely, refusing to meet the blonde's confused gaze as she made her way towards the bathroom. "We're running late as it is." The bathroom door snapped shut and Emma let out a heavy sigh, letting her head thud back against the bed head. It was always two steps forward, one step back with Regina. And although it had never bothered her before, the woman's frosty demeanour was starting to sting a little more sharply than it had done before.

When Emma appeared in the kitchen Henry was already seated at the breakfast bar, eating his oatmeal in silence whilst Regina clutched a steaming mug of coffee to her.

"You know," Emma said, attempting a smile. "Man cannot live on coffee alone Regina."

"Then feel free to help yourself to whatever breakfast you would like," the brunette replied stiffly. "There's bread in the cupboard over there," she indicated, "and jams in the fridge." Emma's shoulders sagged a little as she reached up into the cupboard. "You want a piece?" she asked, but Regina merely shook her head.

"No thank you," she muttered. Henry watched their uneasy exchange from behind his mug of tea, a tiny frown puckering his brow.

"May I have a coffee?" Emma asked, trying her hardest to keep her tone light and casual.

"You know perfectly well where the pot it Miss Swan," Regina said, her eyes still fixed ahead of her. Emma sighed and poured herself a cup just as her toast popped up.

"Did you two have a fight?" Henry asked, making both his mother's look up at him.

"Of course not Henry," Regina replied, plastering on a forced smile. "There is nothing the matter between Miss Swan and I."

"But you're calling her 'Miss Swan' again," he said glumly. "You did that when you hated her."

"It's cool kid. We're good don't worry," Emma said, trying her best to smile. "Now go grab your bag or we'll be late," she said, checking her watch. Henry huffed loudly as he slid off of his stool, traipsing off to find is coat and rucksack.

"I'm gonna go find my jacket," Emma mumbled, staring at her hands.

"What about your breakfast?"

"Like you said," Emma grumbled. "I've already made us late. Don't want to make the kid tardy." Regina watched as Emma slunk off down the hall in much the same fashion as her son and sighed. She could practically feel the butterflies in her stomach chastising her for how she had treated the woman that morning. Especially after last night. But it was last night, and the one before, which made her pull away like this. When it had been Emma in her arms, when it had been Emma who had clung to her she had felt strong, and needed, and like perhaps, if she was lucky, these new feelings could be explored. But lying in the saviour's arms, knowing Emma had seen her cry, had seen her cry out and had held her as she had clutched at her like a small child, she felt exposed. She had felt vulnerable, like the siege walls she had spent decades so carefully erecting could be crumbled by this one blonde woman and her strong embrace. And the thought of anyone, especially Emma, seeing how damaged she truly was, terrified her.

When Emma and Henry reappeared everyone headed in silence for the front door. Just as Emma was about to climb into the passenger seat Regina stopped her, a tentative hand placed at the blonde's elbow, a flask of fresh coffee in her free hand.

"Two sugars and cream, right?" Regina asked quietly. A little smile tugged at the corners of the blonde's pink lips and the hurt melted from her eyes.

"Yeah," she said, knowing that this was as close to an apology as she was going to get. "Thanks." Regina simply nodded, passing her the flask. Her hand dropped from Emma's elbow and she headed silently back around to the driver's side. As Regina sat she could feel her hands quivering. She clenched down hard on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white, the bone threatening to break through the skin as she attempted to quell the tremors. The passenger door snapped shut and she closed her eyes, trying to keep her self from flinching. She was fine. They were fine. She checked her blind spots twice each before backing out of the drive, her eyes scanning up and down the street as she did so, clocking every person they saw, whether they looked at her, what direction they were traveling in. She clocked every person they passed, every animal even. They all seemed to watch as they passed, their eyes dark with judgement. Did they know, or was this how the town's folk always looked at her? They couldn't know, could they? But what if they did? What if, somehow, they all knew, all knew that she had pulled Madame Medusa's heart from her chest and turned it into dust in her palm. What if Snow had told them? She wouldn't put it past her.

Regina flinched as she felt a light touch on her knee, and her eyes flittered down to see Emma's hand. The breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding captive escaped her as she looked up at the blonde for a moment, who was gazing casually out of the window, sipping at her coffee. Regina returned her gaze to the road, taking a slow steadying breath, and focussed on the hand on her knee, focussed on the gentle warmth of Emma's palm through her thin suit pants, on the slow little stroking motions of her thumb, and a little calm seeped into her whirring mind.

When they pulled up to the school Mary-Margaret approached them, a little frown on her face.

"Henry," she said, a perplexed smile gracing her lips. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon."

"I wanted to come back," he smiled.

"Great," the pixie-haired brunette smiled. "Run along inside. I'll be in in just a moment." Emma watched as Regina's dark eyes traced their son all the way into the building, settling on him once again through the classroom window as he chatted animatedly to his friends.

"Don't worry," Mary-Margaret smiled, recapturing her attention. "I'll keep an extra eye on him today." The older woman simply nodded, her eyes drifting back to her son once more.

"We'll pick him up after school," she said, and the other woman frowned, glancing briefly at her daughter for confirmation. Emma gave the slightest of nods.

"Uh, okay," she said, forcing a semi-decent impression of her usual bright smile to her face. "Great. See you guys later then."

"I'll drive home," Emma said quietly, a little smile forcing it's way onto her face as they turned to leave. The fact that Regina didn't argue, or even warn her against destroying her precious car, only served to worry her further.

Regina kept her phone in hand all day. It seemed almost to be glued to her as she pulled it out every ten minutes or so, checking the blank screen for none-existent messages from or about Henry. Emma had phoned her assistant on the way back to the manor to inform her that Regina would not be in today, and to ask her to reschedule all her meetings. She had expected Regina to argue, to insist that she had to go into work, to say that she was fine. But she had not said a single word. She seemed almost to have forgotten that her job even existed. It was, Emma thought, like she was counting down the minutes until she could collect their son, until she knew categorically and beyond any ounce of doubt that he was safe once again. Emma tried her hardest to keep the woman busy helping her tidy and clean the house, wiping away any traces of the chaos from the past week or so from the home. The books were all returned to her vault, potions equipment and ingredients tidied away, every dirty dish washed, dried and put away in its proper place. And throughout it all, Regina's phone remained close to hand, a permanent fixture in her hand or placed safely in her pocket. She hardly ate, hardly spoke, only tidied and checked her phone for the messages that never came.

When it came time for the pair of them to collect Henry she stood, her foot tapping impatiently whilst she fidgeted with the house keys. Emma pulled on her jacket, rummaging around in her pockets to make sure she had her phone and keys.

"Miss Swan!" Regina snapped, making Emma look up, frowning. "You're going to make us late again." She wasn't. Emma knew it. They would be early. And she also knew that Regina had planned it like that. "I don't want Henry to be left waiting for us." Emma just nodded and hurried out of the door, taking the car keys from her silently as she did so. The woman was far too nervous to be driving at the moment. She knew that what the brunette really meant was that she didn't want Henry to be hanging around outside the school, even if she knew perfectly well that there would be dozens of people around and the threat to him was literally dead. She was paranoid, but for now, all Emma could do was indulge her, and plan to talk to her about it later.

The rest of the afternoon and evening continued much in the same fashion as the day so far, even with Henry home. Regina hardly touched her food at dinner, and her gaze continued to hover over their son, in-between darting between Emma and every possible entry point to the house. Finally Henry seemed to crack under her vigilant gaze, and he jumped from his seat on the sofa, heading up to bed with a mumbled "g'night" to the two women. This however, did not stop Regina from checking in on him at least three times once he was asleep. As Emma was heading up to bed she caught Regina peeking in around Henry's bedroom door once more and she sighed.

"Regina," she said softly, making the brunette look around at her with an almost imperceptible jump. "He's fine. Just like he was twenty minutes ago." Regina nodded silently, and gently pulled his door to. She walked past Emma towards her room, not looking at her, and the blonde followed. Feeling green eyes on her, Regina picked up her pyjamas and headed into the bathroom to change. When she returned she found the blonde still leaning against her doorframe, looking at her intently.

"Is there something I can help you with Emma? Only, I'm rather tired and would really like to get to bed."

"You're paranoid," Emma said, taking a step into the room. "You're paranoid about Henry, even though you know she's gone."

"I don't want to talk about this Emma," Regina said, turning away from the blonde to pull back the bed sheets.

"Fine," Emma said, sitting her self opposite Regina on the bed, uninvited. "I'll talk. You listen." Regina looked up at her, trying her hardest to look annoyed. Emma took her hands in her own and looked into her dark eyes. Regina squirmed under her invasive gaze, trying her hardest not to flinch or look away.

"Henry. Is. Safe," Emma said softly. "Madame Medusa. Is. Gone. You know this better than anyone because you-"

"Don't," Regina said, looking down. "Don't say it. I know what I did."

"Then you know that Henry is safe. That we all are. What is it making you so paranoid? Was it the dream last night?"

"There are other monsters out there besides Madame Medusa," Regina muttered. "Some much closer to home." Her comment was hardly even a whisper, but Emma was almost certain that she did not mean Gold, or any other person in this town, but herself. Emma sighed.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Regina said, looking up at her with tears in her eyes.

"You want me to go?" Emma asked.

"Not really."


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm so sorry this has taken so long to update! Uni and work piled on top of me as well as personal stuff and this chapter also gave me a lot of trouble! I'll make sure the next one doesn't take so long to get out I promise! Let me know if this was worth the wait and enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Regina's nightmares continued through out the next week or so that followed. Her sleep was punctuated with visions of her abusive mother, Emma and Henry dead at her feet, her hands blanketed in their blood, and the faces of all of the people she had loved and lost appearing before her, crying, screaming at her, blaming her for their deaths. And every night she would wake crying or screaming and Emma would come running. Eventually she had stopped even attempting to go to bed in the other room (unbeknown to their son of course) because both women knew that this was where she would eventually end up sleeping anyway. And in truth, neither had any problem with this. With Emma's strong arms wrapped around her Regina felt safe, despite every instinct that was screaming at her to be frightened, to worry, to push her away, she felt safe.

Despite Emma's presence however, the nightmares continues, and worse still, Regina continued to shutter her thoughts and feelings from the blonde who was both a comfort, and a source of panic and worry. She refused to tell Emma what the dreams were about, abruptly changing the subject every time Emma asked, or simply looking down and going silent. And with each night that passed the worry only gnawed more painfully at Emma's chest until her very nerves felt raw and exposed and bloody.

Regina shifted in her arms, making Emma look down at her. Her hand, as it so often was, was clinging loosely to her tank top, a sight that usually would have made her smile, or even chuckle because despite all her protestations to the contrary, the brunette really was very cute when she slept. But not this morning. Last night had been bad. Really bad. She had woken screaming as she often did and Emma had had to stop her from running to Henry's room to check on him. And still Regina was refusing to talk to her, to tell her what her dreams were about or what it was she was still afraid of. So no. This morning even the sight of Regina, sleep crumpled and grumpy in her arms would make her smile.

Dark brown eyes fluttered open to find them selves gazing up at the beautiful blonde that they had become accustomed to seeing in the mornings. She frowned, seeing the pensive look on the blonde's face.

"Hey," she croaked, her voice thick with sleep. Emma looked down at her and forced a half-hearted little smile, but she could tell it looked tight, and it only made the brunette's frown deepen.

"G'morning," she said quietly.

"You're looking unusually pensive this morning."

"You saying I don't usually think much?" Emma tried, but Regina only poked her side disapprovingly. "I'm just thinking," Emma mused, her green eyes drifting up again, unfocused on the empty space in front of her.

"I can see that dear," Regina said. "Care to share?"

"You mean like how you share with me?" Emma said. "Oh wait, you don't." Regina simply stared up at her, lips parted, but the words seemed to get lost somewhere between her brain and her lips, never quite making their way out. Emma sighed and looked back down at her.

"That's unfair," Regina whispered at last.

"I'm sorry," Emma said. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to sound cruel. I'm just… I'm just worried about you." Regina looked back down, nestling an inch or so closer to the blonde, but refusing to speak. The butterflies in her stomach rustled their wings excitedly, urging her to open up, to confide it her. Because she cared. She worried. Regina had almost forgotten what it felt like to have someone care about her, worry about her. But it was the fact that she cared which frightened her.

"Why won't you talk to me Regina?" Regina could hear the tears in the blonde's voice, each tiny crack pulling painfully at her heartstrings. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her. But she couldn't look up at her.

"Because," she whispered, dark eyes fixed stubbornly on her hand. "Because I'm terrified that if I tell you, if I tell you what I'm thinking and if I let you in and see how damaged I really am, that you'll run faster than you have ever run in your life." Silence settled over them, sitting heavily above them, slowly sucking the air out of the room as Regina waited for a response. Finally, Emma sighed.

"Look," she said, putting a finger under her chin and forcing her to look up at her. "I care about you. And I'm not going anywhere. You aren't the only one who has emotional baggage Regina." Emma said, cupping her face with a hand and tracing the like of her cheekbone. "I want you to talk to me about this stuff but if you aren't ready I get it. But if not me, will you at least talk to someone else? Maybe Archie?" Regina thought for a moment, then nodded.

"The bug has proven surprisingly apt at his job in the past. I'll talk to him." Emma smiled, planting a little kiss on Regina's forehead, making her sigh, her dark eyes fluttering shut.

"Thank you."

After dropping Regina at Dr Hopper's office and Henry at a friends (they were spending the day working on a science project) Emma decided she would take the opportunity to visit her mother. If she was honest with herself, it wasn't just Regina who could use someone to talk to at the moment. She also knew that her mother was keen to know how Regina was coping. She had seemed almost as worried about the brunette as Emma and Henry had been. It almost surprised her. Emma couldn't quite figure out where these sudden and surprisingly good relations were coming from. For the first time they had seemed to be on truly amicable terms, and it was highly unexpected.

Emma let herself into the little loft apartment and before she had even had time to register her mother's presence in the tiny kitchen/living room the petite brunette had launched herself at her daughter, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. Emma let out a heavy sigh, leaning into the hug for a moment before pulling back and forcing a tired smile.

"Cocoa?" Snow asked, and the tired smile on Emma's face became a little warmer.

"Please."

With the cocoa in her hands Emma could feel the stress slowly seeping from her shoulders.

"So," Mary-Margaret began after taking a long sip from her mug. "How are you holding up? How is Regina doing?"

"Still having nightmares," Emma sighed. "And she still wont' talk to me about them, But I managed to convince her to go see Archie. She's there now." Snow nodded, taking another sip of cocoa.

"And how about you honey? How are you doing?"

"I'm worried about her. But I'm hoping that Archie will be able to help her." Mary-Margaret watched her closely, watched the way her eyes sparkled sadly when she talked about the other woman, the way her shoulder's seemed permanently slumped down, the corners of her mouth tugged down into a sad little frown.

"You really care about her don't you?" she said quietly, making her daughter look up.

"Well, yeah. I mean she's my kid's other-"

"No," her mother said softly, stopping her. "I didn't mean like that. I mean that you really, _really_ care about her, don't you?" Emma looked down at her hands, the knot in her stomach twisting painfully.

"It's complicated Mom," she mumbled. "It's just, all really new and confusing and the timing just sucks and I don't know what to think about any of it."

"Oh honey," Mary-Margaret smiled. "Is it really that new though? If you really think about it, if you look back over the last couple of months, is it really that new? Or are you only just now realising and recognising those feelings for what they truly are?" Emma sighed and closed her eyes, letting her head thump down onto her now folded hands. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe these feelings had been simmering away for a while now, and it had just taken the latest catastrophe to force her to face them. There was, after all, surely a reason that the poison induced nightmares had shown her what it would be like to loose Regina, and how much that would hurt. And when Madame Medusa had almost killed her Emma had thought she might implode. But these feelings had been building up long before that. There was no doubt that they had grown closer since returning home from Neverland, and Emma had always found something oddly comforting in their little family dinners and movie nights.

"I guess it's possible," she grumbled, lifting her head.

"I know she cares about you," Mary-Margaret smiled softly. Emma looked at her incredulously.

"How can you possibly know that? She's just all traumatised and broken and needs someone there for her at the moment." Her mother chuckled.

"You didn't see how pissed she was when you snuck out of her house and avoided her for the entire day."

"I kinda did, but she seemed more annoyed that I might have upset Henry." Snow smirked at her oblivious daughter.

"No. She was pissed at you. She was hurt, and confused." Emma considered this for a moment sipping at her cocoa.

"I only ran because I was freaked out by what I was feeling," she admitted quietly. "But what if the only reason she is allowing herself to be close to me now is because she is in crisis mode and needs someone to cling to? What if… what if when all this blows over, and she's herself again, she pulls away and decides that actually this is a mistake?" Mary-Margaret thought for a moment, staring down into the now cold dregs of her cocoa mug.

"I think if she hadn't already had feelings for you she wouldn't have allowed your help in the first place," she started slowly. "But what I would say, is try not to push it. You wouldn't want to accidentally take advantage of her when she is at her lowest and most vulnerable. Let her set the pace, and make sure you are both absolutely sure in your minds that it's what you both want before anything happens, not just what is there and what is easy." Emma nodded. She knew what her feelings for the other woman were now, though she was perhaps not ready to label them. She was certain. It was Regina she was worried about.

There were a number of things that Regina had never quite understood about the bug that her curse had turned into a therapist. Firstly, he seemed always to be smiling. And he had a smile for everyone, no matter who they were or how they had treated him the previous day. He even always had one for her, which led to the other thing about the bug that she had never understood. Ever since the curse had hit, and even after it had broken, he had always made the time to help her. Despite her carefully crafted mask the cricket had always had a rather unsettling knack for peeling it away and seeing what she was trying to keep hidden underneath. And the most confusing thing of all was that he genuinely seemed to want to help her. Not once had she ever had to coerce him into helping her. In fact, mostly it had been he who had persuaded her to allow him to help. This time it had been Emma who had made her go, and sitting across from the curse made therapist now she couldn't help but question her choice to come. He was wearing that knowing little smile he wore every time she spoke to him, and it made her insides squirm uncomfortably.

"So," Archie said, smiling at her. "How have you been Regina?" Regina couldn't help but snort disbelievingly as she sat rigidly opposite him.

"Other than having had my son kidnaped, being nearly killed by a deranged lizard and subsequently being utterly paranoid about my son's safety? Just dandy thank you Dr Hopper." But her sarcasm didn't seem to faze him. His smile didn't even falter.

"Yes. Emma did mention all of that. But you and I both know that the danger to Henry no longer exists. So what I would like to know is, what is still keeping you up at night? Emma mentioned that you had been having nightmares?" Regina looked down at her hands. "Are they about what happened" Archie prompted gently. "What happened to Henry and you?"

"Not exactly," Regina said quietly. He could help, she knew he could, he had done so before. But first she had to force herself to open up.

"What then?" Archie asked gently.

"They're confused," Regina sighed. "And convoluted. I see my mother yelling at me. I see Daniel and what happened to him, and-" her breath hitched tightly in her throat as images of Henry and Emma's blood soaked bodies pushed their way into her mind.

"And?"

"And I see Henry and Emma's dead bodies at my feet," she whispered. "And when I look down my hands are soaked in their blood." Regina swiped the tear that had escaped the corner of her eye away as Archie wrote silently on his pad. She had to give the bug credit where credit was due, he hadn't even blinked when she had mentioned Emma's name.

"Okay," she said calmly, looking up at her once again. "And in these dreams, did you hurt them, or did you just find them like that?"

"I found them like that." Archie nodded and scribbled another quick note.

"You said you see your mother also. What is she saying to you?" Regina hesitated, still refusing to meet Archie's gaze.

"She… she reminds me that everyone that I have ever loved, and who has loved me, is dead. I'm the common denominator. And she tells me that Emma and Henry would be better off, safer, without me in their lives."

"Do you doubt your own ability to keep Henry and Emma safe?" he asked.

"In the last couple of months my son has been kidnapped and nearly killed twice. I think that rather speaks for itself don't you?" Archie smiled kindly at her and set down his pen.

"What speaks louder is the fact that both times you managed to get him back unharmed."

"Unharmed is stretching it a little," Regina grumbled. "After Neverland he was possessed by Pan and last week we all ended up in hospital."

"But the fact still remains that every one is safe and sound again. You have to at least give yourself credit for that Regina."

"The problem is," Regina said slowly, looking him in the eye for the first time since she had arrived. "If it weren't for me he never would have been taken in the first place. Medusa wanted to get revenge against me. So she went after Henry."

"Is that why you've been refusing to open up to Emma?" Regina frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Emma told me that whilst you seek comfort from her, you have been refusing to tell her what it really is that is bothering you, what it is that is making you frightened. So, I was wandering if one reason for that was that you are frightened that by opening up to her, and letting her in, you'd be putting her in the line of fire also." There it was. The truth presented to her on a platter. He did it every time. Regina looked back down at her hands. She couldn't say what she had to say if she was looking at him. She wouldn't be able to force the words out.

"If I open up to her, I'll allow myself to love her. And I'll be allowing her to love me back."

"Would that really be so terrible Regina? I think you are owed a little happiness after everything you've been through."

"But my love, and loving me, gets people killed. And I can't do that to her, or to Henry."

"I understand that you are frightened Regina, but the one thing that I want you to remember, is that in denying yourself the opportunity to explore your feelings for Emma, you may well be denying her the same."

As the two women lay in bed that night Archie's words bounced around Regina's head as the blonde dragged her fingers idly through her hair. She lay rigidly in Emma's arms, staring fixedly ahead of her.

"You okay?" Emma asked quietly. "You seem kinda tense." The brunette took a deep shuddering breath, closing her eyes as she tried to force the words from her mind to her mouth.

"What are we doing Emma?" she whispered, unable to look up at the blonde.

"Well, _I_ thought we were about to go to sleep," Emma chuckled.

"No," Regina said. "No don't do that Emma. You know what I mean. What are we doing here? What's happening between us?" She heard Emma sigh and felt the rhythmic stroking of her hair stop.

"Regina if this is weird, if you don't want me to be here, just tell me and I'll go."

"No," Regina looked up at the blonde suddenly, her heart racing at the idea of her leaving. "No. That's not what I meant." She looked away again. "I don't want you to go. Not unless you want to. I just… this is all so complicated and confusing."

"It doesn't have to be," Emma said quietly.

"But with everything that's happened and-"

"Forget everything that's happened," Emma said, her tone a little more determined, though still soft. "It doesn't matter. We don't need to label it just yet. What matters, is that this, whatever "this" is, feels comfortable. That it feels right. Does it? Feel right?" Regina could only look up at her, and nod. Their faces were mere inches apart, and she could smell her spearmint toothpaste on the blonde's lips.

Her lips were soft, and tentative as they ghosted against her own, the whispering touches making them tingle. The butterflies in her stomach leapt and danced and fluttered in happy little circles, crying out in joy as gradually the kiss grew a little more confident. She tasted like mint and chocolate. The taste, the smell, the touch, it all made her feel giddy. When they finally parted Emma leaned her forehead against Regina's, eyes closed, her fingers softly trailing the silken skin of her face.

"See," she whispered. "Not complicated at all." Regina couldn't help but smile.

"Not at all."


End file.
